Natasha Gillies
Seabird behaviour and ecology
I'm a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of Liverpool, where I'm studying how individual variation and environment interact to shape movement decisions in two polar seabirds - the wandering albatross, and the black-legged kittiwake. My research investigates the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of animal movement and what consequences these have on a population level.
My PhD research focused on the mechanisms allowing the coordination of biparental care on seabirds, which is an area I continue to be interested in.
Research
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Avian Ecology Group University of Liverpool
April 2021 - present
Drivers and consequences of foraging behaviour
I am analyzing long-term datasets from British Antarctic Survey and Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, focusing on wandering and black-browed albatrosses. My research aims to understand how pair-level behaviors influence fitness and whether we can use foraging behavior to predict resource acquisition.
Movement decisions in albatrosses
Utilizing high-resolution GPS data alongside long-term behavioral assays, I have led projects on wandering albatrosses to explore (1) how personality traits affect foraging decisions at sea, and (2) the potential use of infrasound as a long-distance navigational cue.
ATLAS Wildlife Tracking
With support from a BBSRC Career Development Fellowship and NERC's Exploring the Frontiers grant, I have been collaborating with the ATLAS Wildlife Tracking team to establish the first ATLAS reverse-GPS tracking system in the Arctic. Ultimately, this system will allow for high-throughput, high resolution tracking of all major seabird species breeding in Svalbard.
DPhil Student, University of Oxford
September 2017 - March 2021
I worked in the OxNav research group for my BBSRC-funded PhD, where I investigated the mechanisms and consequences of coordinated parental care for two Procellariiform seabirds: the Manx shearwater and the black-browed albatross. I used precision biotelemetry devices in combination with fieldwork-based experiments and observations to investigate the decisions made by parents during breeding, and whether these are made cooperatively across the pair. My thesis is available to read online here.
