The Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health

Davina Hill

Academic History

• 2005: PhD in Sexual Conflict and Division of Labour during Incubation in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata. This project is supervised by Dr. Ruedi Nager and Dr. Jan Lindström of Glasgow University and is funded by a NERC studentship.
• 2002-2003: MSc. Hons. with distinction, Ecology, University of Wales, Bangor
• 1999-2002: BSc Hons. Environmental Biology, University of Wales, Bangor

Research Interests

Current Research Projects

• Sexual conflict and division of labour
• Ecology and conservation of the Wattled Curassow (Crax globulosa) in Bolivia

Previous Research Projects

• 2005: Group dynamics of introduced Scarlet Macaws, Ara macao (Amigos de las Aves, Costa Rica) 
• 2004: Population ecology and behaviour of the African Chameleon, Chamaeleo africanus (Hellenic Ornithological Society, Greece.  Funded by European Commission).
• 2004: Integration of introduced Scarlet Macaws into the wild  (Amigos de las Aves, Costa Rica) 
• 2002-3: Resting site selection in three species of cryptic moths (MSc. thesis, supervised by Nigel Brown, Bangor University, supported by European Social Fund)
• 2001-2: The role of phenol oxidase in wetland ecosystems (BSc. thesis supervised by Chris Freeman, Bangor University)

Conference Presentations

Loving thy neighbour: effects of paternal certainty & extra-pair mating opportunities on incubation effort
Talk presented at 12th biennial congress of ISBE 2008, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Mating opportunities, breeding experience and attractiveness affect incubation effort in the Zebra Finch
Talk presented at 60th EGI Ornithology Conference 2008, Oxford University

Do male Zebra Finches with greater EPC opportunity reduce incubation effort into an existing clutch?
Talk presented at ASAB Winter Meeting 2007, London
Poster at ASAB Summer Meeting 2007, Newcastle; BES Annual Meeting 2007, Glasgow (2nd prize); Faculty of Biomedical and Life Science Poster Conference, Glasgow University (1st prize); ASAB Easter Meeting 2008, Edinburgh

Abundance, Distribution and Behaviour of an Endangered Curassow in Bolivia
Talk presented at Scottish Tropical Biology Group Meeting 2007, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh

Publications

Hill, D. L., Arañibar-Rojas, H. & MacLeod, R. (2008) Wattled Curassows in Bolivia: abundance, habitat use and conservation status, Journal of Field Ornithology 79: 345-351

Hill. D. (2007) Review of Costa Rica (Travellers' Wildlife Guides) by L. Beletsky, and Costa Rica: An Ecotraveller's Guide by H. Robinson, Ibis, 149: 427-428