DAVE SHUTLER - Research in my lab
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 (Photo by Jamey Windley) |
Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, Canada B4P 2R6 902-585-1354 FAX -1059 dave.shutler [at] acadiau.ca Homepage Info for prospective students Résumé |
| Presenting poster at Am Soc Parasitol meet Halifax, Aug 2003. Note my stature. (Photo by Kit Muma) |
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This is a partial review of my lab's research program (beginning with my active projects, followed by student research). If you are a prospective student, what follows is not intended to restrict you if you have your own ideas, especially if you bring a funded project. This information does, however, provide some indication of what interests me, and of projects where opportunities for outside funding may be better.
ACTIVE PROJECTS
Reproductive ecology of tree swallows
Tree swallows are cavity-nesters that readily use nest boxes. Team Shutler studies reproductive biology of these birds relative to parasites, pesticide use, and other ecological conditions in orchards around Wolfville. We also collaborate with Bob Clark at Canadian Wildlife Service, Saskatoon using data from his population of tree swallows, and Andre Desrochers (Univ Laval). More recently, collaborations have been initiated with Golondrinas de las Americas, a "consortium" of swallow biologists that extends to South America.
(Photo by Meg Hainstock)
Reproductive ecology of Leach's storm-petrels
Acadia University owns most of Bon Portage Island, Nova Scotia. The Island is home to a colony of approximately 50,000 pairs of Leach’s storm-petrels. Recently, Team Shutler began collaborative research with colleagues from University of California (Davis) and Harvard to unravel a series of questions about this species' biology.
Bee diseases
In collaboration with Dick Rogers (Bayer Crop Science), Kirk Hillier (Acadia), and Shelley Adamo (Dalhousie), Team Shutler studies economically important bee diseases (e.g., Nosema, Varroa mites), and their interaction with immunity, neural function, and behaviour.
CURRENT STUDENT RESEARCH
Graduate Students
Geoff Williams, PhD candidate
Co-supervisor: Sandra Walde.
Collaborator: Dick Rogers
Bee parasites.
(Photos provided by or by Geoff Williams)
Lise Charbonneau, MSc candidate
Bee diseases.
Collaborators: Dick Rogers & Kirk HillierMegan Colwell, MSc candidate
Bee nutrition.
(Photo provided by Megan Colwell)
Cate Little, MSc candidate
Bee immunity.
Collaborator: Shelly Adamo.
Holly Lightfoot, MSc candidate
Radar-monitoring of bird movement.
Lead supervisor: Phil TaylorIngrid Pollet, MSc candidate
Leach's storm-petrels.
Collaborator: Phil Taylor
BSc (Hons) candidates
Immunity in Leach's storm-petrels.
FORMER STUDENT RESEARCHERS
MSc
Collaborator: Al Hanson, CWS.
Yarrow and fleas in tree swallow nests.
(Photo provided by Adam Campbell)
Katie Dalley, 2007.
Principal supervisor: Phil Taylor
Nest success of boreal forest birds.
(Photo by Stella Walsh)
Bee learning.
Collaborators: Kirk Hillier
Meagan Hainstock, 2005, Governor General's Award for best MSc thesis at Acadia.
Parental care and nestling begging in experimentally enlarged tree swallow broods.
(Photo by Stephen Petersen)
Adrian McGinn, 2002
Body size and nest initiation date in birds.
(Artwork by Adrian McGinn)
Nic McLellan, 2005
Collaborators: John Chardine, CWS, Sackville; Rosemary Curley, PEI; Andrew Boyne, CWS; Kevin Teather, Biology, UPEI; Neil Burgess, CWS.
Diets and parasites of ring-billed gulls.
(Photo by Amanda Marlin)
Melissa Smith, 2002
Offspring sex ratios and parental investment in tree swallows.
(Photo by Jamey Windley)
Sarah Spencer, 2006
Collaborator: Mike O'Brien, DNR
Mercury in otters.
(Photo by Heather Barton)
Emily Turner-Brannen, 2007
Principal supervisor: Julia Green-Johnson
Probiotics and acrobatics.
(Photos by Mairi Chadwic, & Stella Walsh)
BSc (Hons)
Julia Carr, 2002
Co-supervisor: Don Stewart
Parental investment in tree swallows.
(Photo by James Windley)
Also Queen Annapolisa
Mate choice in Leach's storm-petrels.
(Photo at left by Wanda Langley )
Megan Colwell, 2010
Undertaking behaviour in honeybees.
(see MSc candidates)
Krystyna Cowan, 2006
Co-supervisors: Don Stewart, Tom Herman
Nematodes in shrews.
(Photos by Don Stewart and the Cowan family)
Daniel Deveau, 2011. Age versus learning in honeybees.
Evan Fairn, 2005
Ectoparasites of ring-billed gulls.
Behaviour of common eiders (Somateria mollisima) around their nests.
(Photo provided by Jenelle King)
Tara Lapointe, 2006
Collaborator: Al Hanson, CWS
Consequences of Nova Scotia eelgrass decline for waterbirds, and of being locked out of one's car.
Holly Lightfoot, 2010
Corticosterone in Leach's storm-petrels.
(See MSc candidates)
Cate Little, 2007
Feather mites of tree swallows.
Corticosterone in Leach's storm-petrels.
Emily Mills, 2011. Immunity versus growth in Leach's storm-petrels.
Kate MacCulloch, 2004
Co-supervisor: Brian Wilson
Nest site selection by tree swallows.
(Photo from outside some Barcelona theatre
provided by Kate MacCulloch)
Georgia McNeil, 2009
Immunity in Leach's storm-petrels
(Micrograph by Rodger Evans)Joseph Muise, 2003
Co-supervisor: Don Stewart
Feather mites and extra-pair copulations in tree swallows.
Sam Munroe, 2010
Co-supervisors: Trevor Avery and Mike Dadswell
Ectoparasites of Atlantic sturgeons.
(Photo provided by Sam Munroe)
Paul O'Connell, 2003
Principal supervisor: Brian Wilson
Relaxin titres in breeding great black-backed gulls, herring gulls, and common eiders.
(Photos by Jenelle King)
Stephen Robinson, 2007
The dangers of misbehaving around photographers.
(Photo by Kryss Cowan)
Andrew Russell, 2007
Flower symmetry and insect attraction.
Maritime distribution of Nosema in hymenoptera.
Annika Samuelsen, 2006
Co-supervisor: Brian Wilson
Corticosterone and ectoparasites of Leach's storm-petrels.
(Photo by David Samuelsen)
Miranda Saroli, 2010
Co-supervisor: Cliff Stanley
Geophagy in Peruvian parrots.
(Photo provided by Miranda Saroli)
Deformed wing virus in honey bees.
Krista Thomas, 2000
Effects of ectoparasite loads on begging intensity, growth rates, and parental feeding rates of nestling tree swallows. Shown here with partner Jason.
(Photo provided by Krista Thomas)
Emma Vaasjo, 2010
Immunity in Leach's storm-petrels
