Daniel Baldassarre is interested in evolutionary biology and biodiversity, and especially loves studying birds. To study avian biodiversity, he focuses on small populations of birds and looks for connections between unusual behaviors and broad-scale patterns. For example, how does the promiscuous sexual behavior of subspecies of the Australian Red-backed Fairy-wren affect whether or not they will interbreed? Does the Galápagos Vampire Finch’s bizarre habit of drinking blood mean it is on a trajectory to become a new species? In the southwestern USA, is the Phainopepla really two cryptic species that breed in different locations at different times of the year? Come to his Rochester Birding Association talk to find out!
Daniel Baldassarre is an Assistant Professor of Zoology in the SUNY Oswego Department of Biological Sciences. He grew up in Tully, NY, got his undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, went to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for my PhD, and did postdoctoral research at the University of Miami and Princeton University. Daniel has been fortunate to study birds in Alaska, Namibia, New York, Costa Rica, Australia, The Galápagos Islands, and California. See Daniel’s website for more info about his research: www.danbaldassarre.
and follow him on Twitter: @evornithology
.
