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Graduate Students |
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Jackie Gaudioso M.S. Student University of Hawaii at Hilo Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences Program gaudioso@hawaii.edu |
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While earning my B.S. at Providence College, I became intrigued by the role of plumage ornaments with respect to avian behavioral ecology. During my time as an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates, NSF) and research assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Ellen Ketterson & Dr. Val Nolan Jr. at Mountain Lake Biological Station (Pembroke, VA), I explored this topic in dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis carolinensis). After graduation, my assistantships have included banding migrants in Nova Scotia, aviculture of endangered Hawaiian birds, radio-telemetry and monitoring of an endangered, finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreeper (Loxiodes bailleui) , and nest searching/monitoring of the endangered Maui Parrotbill (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) in high elevation cloud forests in East Maui. My master’s thesis at the University of Hawaii at Hilo is a continuation of my interest in the roles of plumage coloration and ornamentation in birds. I will be sampling yellow plumage patches from adult males and females of a common Hawaiian honeycreeper, the Hawaii amakihi (Hemignathus virens virens) at eight island-wide sites, which vary by elevation and climate. I will use spectrophotometry in order to objectively assess plumage coloration across the entire spectral range. Intraspecific variation in yellow, carotenoid-based plumage (derived directly from diet) could have implications of food availability, evolutionary divergence and natural selection, and even disease status (avian malaria) signaling in Hawaii amakihi. |
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Bobby Hsu M.S. Student University of Hawaii at Hilo Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences Program boppingshoester@gmail.com
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I joined the TCBES program at UH Hilo on 2006 to pursue my interest in the conservation of Hawaiian honeycreepers. For my thesis project, I am examining the mechanisms of passive immunization (a.k.a. maternal antibody) against avian malaria in Hawaii ‘amakihi. The speculation is that female ‘amakihi pass on antibody to their offspring as an added form of resistance to avian malaria. Currently, I am desperately looking for ‘amakihi nests at different elevations, in order to examine the presence of the malaria antibody in the eggs. The study is an extension of the Biocomplexity Project, for which I was an intern in 2003. Before joining the TCBES program, I also worked on several field ornithology projects in California, Oregon and Hawaii. I graduated from U.C. Davis in 1999 with a B.S. in Environmental Biology. |
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Sam Brooks M.S. Student University of Hawaii at Hilo Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences Program sebrooks@hawaii.edu
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My master’s thesis focuses on the effects of non-native riparian shading on stream ecology. Specifically my research examines changes to both hihiwai (Neritina granosa) and benthic algal distributions caused by shading. My study is currently being conducted along Honoli’i stream near Hilo. Prior to studying under Dr. Hart, I worked for the Hawaii Division of Forestry & Wildlife, Koloko-Honokohau National Park - Kona, and the Forest Service in Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. My goal after completing this degree is to conduct forest ecology/watershed research and management for a state or government agency. Other interests include: the great outdoors, hiking, running, reading, traveling, and surfing. |
