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 polar seabirds - the wandering albatross, the black-browed albatross, and the black-legged kittiwake. My research investigates the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of animal movement and what consequences these have on an individual and population level.
My PhD research focused on the mechanisms facilitating the coordination of biparental care on seabirds, 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.
