Welcome! I’m Kay Garlick-Ott, a third year Ecology PhD student at the University of California, Davis, advised by Elisha Hull (website). I am fascinated by the role of social behavior in determining reproductive outcomes for group-living species. I am especially curious about how this dynamic might change in response to different environmental pressures.
Common Terns are a gregarious seabird that crosses hemispheres twice a year to breed along the Atlantic coast of the United States and winter as far south as Argentina. In the Gulf of Maine, this species nests in large colonies on offshore islands. The National Audubon Society Seabird Institute (NASSI) brings seasonal research teams to these islands to monitor Common Terns and other seabird species that nest there. I worked as a NASSI research assistant and later supervisor from 2018 to 2021, and this experience inspired the research questions that brought me to graduate school.
Because Common Terns nest near each other, behaviors like aggression are highly important for social cohesion, predator defense, and resource acquisition. However, aggression can also result in injury, high energy expenditure, and even death in adults and chicks. I like to think of aggression as a double-edged sword, and my goal as a researcher is to figure out how and when this behavior functions as a tool, a weapon, and/or a hindrance.
Visit “Get Involved” for more information about how I plan to do this and to learn how you can help!
Photos by me, except for title photo by Ted Fuell.
Team Tern: Continuous Behavioral Monitoring 