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New SEANET CoordinatorJulie Ellis, PhDBackgroundAs a seabird ecologist, my research interests center on both seabird populations and how seabirds influence coastal ecosystems. I received my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University in 2004. My research focused on determining how seabirds affect marine and terrestrial communities on coastal islands in the Isles of Shoals (New Hampshire/Maine). In New England , seabird populations have fluctuated dramatically during the past century.
I began a postdoctoral fellowship at the Shoals Marine Laboratory via Cornell University in the fall of 2004. During this time, I've worked on a variety of projects including: 1) censuses of seabird populations in the Isles of Shoals; 2) genetic studies of the two species of gull (GBBG and HERG); 3) banding gulls for studies of foraging and population trends [ http://www.sml.cornell.edu/research/pr-gull-index.htm ]; 4) assessing the impact of introduced mammalian predators in seabird colonies; and 5) the role of marine birds and mammals as indicators of pathogens and diseases in collaboration with Becky Harris, Mark Pokras, Flo Tseng and our colleagues at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Education and outreach experience (Photo by Kathy Abbott) I believe that the integration of wildlife research and public outreach is extremely important. Thus, my colleagues and I received and administered a 3-year grant from the Earthwatch Institute, which funds field-based research projects worldwide and pairs each project with teams of volunteers. These volunteers have assisted us with numerous projects including the ones listed in the previous paragraph. The experience of teaching, motivating, and supervising Earthwatch volunteers (age 16 to 88!) has been incredibly rewarding. I also enjoy mentoring students, and have overseen numerous undergraduate research projects through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program (NSF) at the Shoals Lab. I'm currently working with an undergraduate student who is investigating habituation in gulls, and with a Tufts vet student who is studying the effects of garbage consumption and landfill visitation on health of Herring Gulls.
Hobbies: When I'm not in the field or at a computer (!), I love to garden, read fiction, cook, hike, draw, take photos, bird watch, and visit with friends and family.
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Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine |
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