BirdSong

Meet the team!

Slade Allen-Ankins is a postdoctoral research fellow at James Cook University, Townsville. He is primarily interested in using passive acoustic monitoring to understand calling patterns in frog and bird communities and using machine learning methods for detecting calls in long-duration recordings. Before studying frog calls, he received a BSc in Environmental Management & Ecology from La Trobe University, where he studied the impacts of turbidity on feeding in juvenile Murray cod and temperature-dependent performance in native blackfish.

Sebastian Hoefer is a PhD candidate at James Cook University, Townsville. He is studying the effectiveness of passive acoustic monitoring for conducting biodiversity assessments for various vertebrate groups. Sebastian holds a BSc in Biology from Freie Universität Berlin and an Honours from Macquarie University, where he studied the cognitive abilities of social Australian skinks. Most of Sebastian’s previous research has focused on reptiles, particularly snakes and sea turtles, and he is actively involved in promoting a peaceful coexistence with our scaly friends.

Lin Schwarzkopf is a professor at James Cook University, Townsville. Her research examines broad ecological and evolutionary questions, including applied problems. She takes an integrative approach, using a combination of controlled experiments and observational studies to test hypotheses. Much of her research has used reptiles and amphibians as model systems, but she is broadly interested in a variety of groups.