Globally, seabird populations are experiencing significant declines, particularly in response to a decrease in fish abundance. The research of Theresa Jones, who is pursuing a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Ecology with SEGUL, the Seabird Ecology Group University of Liverpool, aims to examine the individual, social and environmental factors underlying colonial seabird foraging behaviours.
An accomplished biologist and ornithologist, Teri has conducted groundbreaking analysis using a unique dataset from Australasian gannets that has led to a new understanding of the behaviour of this colonial bird. The Australasian gannet is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family that nests and breeds in colonies in large parts of Australia and New Zealand primarily on offshore islands but also on the mainland. Australasian gannets feed by plunging into the ocean at high speed where they catch squid and fish that school near the surface. Understanding the factors which influence foraging behaviours is critical as seabirds expend a significant amount of time and energy locating food and food shortage is a key cause of reproductive failure.
The dataset that Teri is using simultaneously tracked 85% of a population of Australasian gannets over multiple foraging trips. This dataset uses GPS data of gannet foraging movements and social associations derived from bio-logging technology, miniature animal-attached electronic tags. Teri’s research focusses on the social associations at the colony and tests whether these associations influence the location of foraging sites. Her analysis has revealed that gannets positively associate with conspecifics, birds of the same species, while departing from the colony and that co-departing gannets have more similar initial foraging patches than individuals that did not associate at the colony. These results provide strong evidence for the theory that the colony may provide a valuable source of information that influences foraging location.
Teri, a recipient of the highly competitive Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Scholarship, has first authored several papers in top journals including Animal Behaviour and has presented her research findings at several prestigious international conferences.
Teri has a BSc (Hons) from Simon Fraser University and an MSc from the University of Ottawa, where she did volunteer bird banding at the Iona Island Bird Observatory and the Innis Point Bird Observatory Migration Monitoring and MAPS program. More recently Teri worked as a field assistant at the Alderney Wildlife Trust in the Channel Islands, assisting with GPS deployment on Northern gannets and doing seabird and passerine banding.
Teri’s longterm goal is to teach and research at a Canadian university in the areas of ecology and evolution.
