I am a NERC-funded DPhil student looking at individual differences in space use and movement behaviour in pelagic seabirds, under the supervision of Tim Guilford in the OxNav Group. Investigating space use offers a fascinating view of how individuals vary in a number of ecological behaviours, including foraging decisions and consistency in site use, and the opportunity to examine the role of learning and fixed behaviour patterns in navigation and migration. Focusing on Manx shearwaters, I am using GPS tracking equipment to quantify the extent of individual variation in a number of spatial behaviour metrics, and aim to link this with data from behavioural assays.
