UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #805

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Daniel Gutierrez
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
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Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): dag23@fsu.edu
Position Title: Graduate Student
Faculty Advisor Name: Emily DuVal
Faculty Advisor's FSU Email: ehduval@bio.fsu.edu
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Biological Sciences
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Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: The more connected, the better? The interplay between networks and animal personality
Project Keywords: networks, animal personality, cooperation, behavior, birds
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 1
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Biology or relevant (preferred)
Bioinformatics
Other majors will be considered on a case by case basis

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
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Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: In-person
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 5-10
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: During business hours
Overall Research Project Description:
This project will focus on the drivers of cooperative alliances in the Lance-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata). This is a tropical lekking species that performs complex cooperative sexual displays for females. These alliances are composed by a dominant (alpha) and a subordinate (beta) individual. There is a lot of variation in the composition and stability of these alliances and how successful these alliances are. Through this project, will explore the drivers that maintain or split these alliances and how past experience can offer insights into these processes. We will incorporate a network analysis framework to understand the effect of social interactions early in the life of these birds on their cooperative behavior and alliances.

Research Tasks:
Literature search; troubleshooting the construction of a social matrix across years of data; data processing; data analysis; communication of results

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Required: interest in animal behavior, able to work independently, critical thinking, good communication skills, reliable
Recommended: coding experience (preferred R), experience managing large databases, MS Access 

Mentoring Philosophy:
As an undergraduate, I benefited from having had the opportunity to work with great mentors, both professors and graduate students, and I strongly feel that those experiences contributed greatly to my career path and the position I am in right now. I would like to provide the same type of opportunities that I received to new aspiring scientists. As a mentor, I try to provide each student with the right environment and opportunities that would allow them to develop on areas that they wish to improve on while also continue furthering their strengths. I believe recognizing that each student comes with a diverse background and set of skills is key to establish an optimal rapport between mentor and student that facilitates learning and promotes asking questions. Lastly, I learned from my experience with previous mentors that learning is bidirectional in a mentor-mentee relationship so I strongly encourage students to share their experience and skills with me; I can also learn a lot from students.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V9FZSDmR1U&t=64s; https://www.bio.fsu.edu/duval/
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: No
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
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UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes
Faculty Advisor Confirmation: Yes

Are you interested in attending in a UROP Research Mentor Workshop Series?: Yes
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Year: 2024
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=Atm8KsmwqlV4tCARmQXNbfjVxhj99z_D8-xhAiYEqWk