Hi all, and welcome to my first attempt at blogging!

In this first post, I want to provide an idea of what to expect from me in future posts if you should be so inclined to follow my blog.

We are currently at the beginning of the winter field season, and during this season, I spend a lot of my time bushwacking in the woods to study how chickadees (the adorable little songbirds pictured below) socialize with one another. So, readers can expect updates about my fieldwork as well as stories of fieldwork fails (these happen rather frequently) and scares (ie: the occasional bear encounter). Being in the field can be a ton fun, but can also be extremely frustrating, and I intend to share both sides of the spectrum!

Broadly, I am fascinated by all facets of animal behavior, and I enjoy educating others about recent studies or news within that field. Many of my posts will discuss really cool and interesting new findings about animal behavior as well as my thoughts about those findings. My own research is all about the birds, but my goal is to write about concepts and questions in animal behavior, rather than sticking to one study system or taxon.

If you’re really into social network theory and social network analysis (SNA), you have come to the right place! Some of my posts will be about my own social network analyses (see Research for an example network) as well as new and exciting studies using SNA. I think it’s an efficient and innovative tool that can be applicable to a variety of ecological questions, and I’d love to hear others’ thoughts about SNA as an ecological methodology.

Overall, I hope to engage others in discussions about biology and fieldwork and share my own opinions and thoughts about my field along the way.

Thank you for checking out my site and my very first blog post! Feel free to leave comments or email me with any questions or concerns.