Charlotte Chang
cc612@cam.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223 336670
B.A. in Biology (cum laude), Pomona College, 2010
Research Interests
Landscape ecology
Restoration ecology
Avian migration
I am broadly interested in using mathematical models to examine ecological processes. Conducting a field study on riparian songbirds in Montana, U.S., sparked my interest in linking avian population dynamics with broad-scale land management schemes. Thus, my undergraduate thesis examined a threatened grassland-obligate songbird, the Sprague’s pipit (Anthus spragueii).
For my MPhil research project, supervised by Professor W.J. Sutherland, I am constructing a behaviour-based model for a near-threatened shorebird, the Black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), to assess the following questions:
1. What are the implications of seasonal matching in habitat quality for a migratory species?
2. What processes govern migratory route fidelity?
3. What factors are driving the divergent trends observed in the two subspecies of the Black-tailed godwit (L. l. limosa and L. l. islandica)?
Publications
- Kaspari, M., Chang, C. and Weaver, J. (2010) Salted roads and sodium limitation in a northern forest ant community. Ecological Entomology, 35, 5, 543-548.
Conference Presentations
- Robinette, D., Chang, C. and Caselle, J. (Dec. 2010) Baseline distributions of kelp forest fishes and foraging seabirds around the newly modified Vandenberg State Marine Reserve. Contributed paper to the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation Conference (La Jolla, California).
- Karnovsky, N.J., Caves, E.M., Warzybok, P., Bradley, R.W., Elliott, M.L., Saenz, B., Chang, C. and Jahncke, J. (Feb. 2010) In pursuit of plankton: the foraging behavior of Cassin's auklets in the gulf of the Farallones. Presentation to the 37th Pacific Seabird Group Conference (Long Beach, California).
