Research

Quantitative Ecology · Conservation Bioacoustics · Ornithology

Passive acoustic monitoring of urban bird communities.

I currently study how bird communities respond to development across an urban gradient in Stockton, a city in California’s Central Valley. Using passive acoustic monitoring and automated species identification, I am modeling how occupancy and relative abundance vary with vegetation structure.

The Valley has lost more than 90% of its historic wetlands, riparian forests, and grasslands. Habitat-specialist birds have declined with them. Because this region forms a large part of the Pacific Flyway, remaining riparian corridors and urban vegetation provide important stopover habitat for migrants.

Intra-urban acoustic monitoring has not been widely applied in the Central Valley, and so this project provides localized data for conservation and urban greening initiatives.

Presentations

What can bird vocal activity tell us about urban green space? A passive acoustic study in California’s Central Valley American Ornithological Society, Amherst, MA — August 2026 (poster)

Using automated acoustic monitoring to evaluate avian biodiversity in a structurally diverse urban landscape Animal Behavior Society, Baltimore, MD — July 2025 (poster) · Central Valley Birding Symposium, Stockton, CA — November 2025 (talk)

Funding

Central Valley Bird Club Research Grant Award May 2026 — two months support

Hunter-Nahhas Fellowship Award University of the Pacific, Department of Biological Sciences, May 2025 — three months support