UROP Project

networks, animal personality, cooperation, behavior, birds

Research Mentor: Daniel Gutierrez, he/him/his
Department, College, Affiliation: Biological Sciences, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: dag23@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Biology or relevant (preferred)
Bioinformatics
Other majors will be considered on a case by case basis
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

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