2004-2005 Undergraduate Research Award Winner
Susan
Ellis will graduate in May 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree
in Biology. She has been active in ecological research since her
freshman year at Behrend, working each summer as a biologist aide for
the Pennsylvania Game Commission on numerous migratory bird studies
and completing a three-year study on the behavioral patterns of
incubating female songbirds. The second project was done under
the supervision of Dr. Margaret Voss, assistant professor of biology,
and was the basis for Susan's Schreyer's Honors College Thesis.
She will defend this thesis, titled "Changes in Maternal Time
Allocation over the Course of Incubation in House Wrens," on April 18,
2005.
While at Behrend, Susan presented her thesis research at several conferences, including the Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference in spring 2003 and the Beta Beta Beta District Research Conference in spring 2004. Susan's work received first place in the poster competition at the 2004 Beta Beta Beta conference, earning her the opportunity to represent Behrend at the National Beta Beta Beta Conference in Florida in May 2005. Susan also presented her work at the Association of Field Ornithologists and Wilson Ornithological Society annual conference at Cornell University in April 2004. In July 2004, Susan took her research to the biennial meeting of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology in Jyvaskyla, Finland. Out of the hundreds of students attending the meeting, she was the only undergraduate to formally present her research. As a result, she had the unique opportunity to meet several famous and influential scientists who expressed interest in her work and appreciation for her motivation and professionalism.
Susan's thesis work will culminate in co-authorship on two papers to be submitted to scientific journals in 2005. The first is titled "Inter- and Intra-Specific Variations in Parental Time and Heat Allocations during Intermittent Incubation" and is to be submitted to the journal Functional Animal Ecology. The second paper is called "Changes in Maternal Time and Heat Allocations over the Course of Incubation in a Temperate Bird Species" and will be submitted to the Journal of Avian Biology.
In late May 2005, Susan will head south to attend the University of Georgia for a Masters of Science degree in statistics and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Management.