David W. Bradley

Curriculum Vitae (download pdf)


 education
2006-present – M.Sc. candidate, Biology Department, University of Windsor, Canada
2001-2004 – B.Sc., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
2000-2001 – Faculty of Science, University of Winnipeg, Canada

 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

● Vocalizations and Ecology of Neotropical Wrens, Colombia (Dec 2006-Feb 2008)
Collaborator: Sandra Valderrama (sandraval AT gmail.com)

Located territories of Niceforo’s and Rufous-and-white wrens, mist-netted male birds, collected morphometric data, and made focal recordings of singing pairs. 

● Graduate Thesis Research, Costa Rica (May-Aug 2007)
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Mennill (dmennill AT uwindsor.ca)

Designed and implemented field protocols for data collection towards my masters degree thesis project on vocal behaviour of Rufous-naped Wrens. These included locating and monitoring territories, mist-netting and banding, focal sound recordings, and song playback experiments.

● Vocalizations and Ecology of Neotropical Wrens, Costa Rica (March-May 2006)
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Mennill (dmennill AT uwindsor.ca)
  
Assisted in behavioural study of vocalizations of Rufous-and-White and Rufous-naped Wrens in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica.  Field work included daily focal recordings of breeding birds, nest monitoring and bird banding.  Lab work consisted of digitizing and annotating daily audio recordings.

● Database Manager, Canada/Kenya (Jan - March 2006)
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba
Supervisor: Keith Fowke (fowkekr AT cc.umanitoba.ca)
 
Established custom database management software to monitor human blood sample movement from field sites in Kenya to an HIV research laboratory at the University of Manitoba.  This position involved training staff at the blood collection sites in Kenya and end users in Manitoba to use the software to ensure correct data flow.  I also prepared software use protocols for data entry and data extraction.

● Species at Risk Assessment, Canada (Sept - Dec 2005)
Consulting Biologist, Parks Canada
Supervisor: Joanne Tuckwell (joanne.tuckwell AT pc.gc.ca)
 
Prepared detailed reports on status of eleven threatened species occurring in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.  This position involved data mining and extensive collaboration with park staff and Canadian Wildlife Service biologists to determine threats and population status of species within the park.

● Life History-Physiology Nexus, Panama (March to July 2005)
Research Assistant, Oregon State University
Project Coordinator: Dr. Douglas Robinson (douglas.robinson AT oregonstate.edu)
  
Served as field crew leader on comparative reproductive ecology study of tropical birds.  Located and monitored multiple species nest sites, video-taped incubation and chick feeding bouts to assess parental care, measured developing chick morphometrics, conducted neophobia experiments on nests, and incubated eggs to determine base-line hatching periods.  A significant supervisory and time management role was required for this position.

● Behavioural Ecology of Antbirds, Panama (May-Sept. 2003)
Field Assistant, University of British Columbia/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Supervisor: Janeene Touchton (touchton AT princeton.edu)
  
Conducted behavioural observations on foraging army-ant swarm attendants in the humid tropical forests of Barro Colorado Island and adjacent Soberania National Park.  Mist-netted birds to apply colour-bands, collect blood samples and measure morphometrics.  Located ant-swarms through weekly line-transects and with radio telemetry equipment.  Sampled arthropod-prey abundance at ant swarms.

● Demography of Sympatric Catharus Thrushes, Chiapas, Mexico (April-May 2003)
Field Assistant, University of British Columbia/ECOSUR
Supervisor: José-Luis Rangel-Salazar (jlrangel AT sclc.ecosur.mx)
  
Assisted on research project on demography and habitat selection of tropical resident and neotropical migratory birds. Banded birds, performed censuses across habitat gradients and supported principle researcher with PhD research.

● NestWeb Project, British Columbia, Canada (May 2001-Dec. 2002)
Field Assistant, University of British Columbia
Crew Leader: Kathryn Aitken (kaitken AT interchange.ubc.ca)
Supervisor: Kathy Martin (kmartin AT interchange.ubc.ca)
  
Located and monitored breeding sites of hole-nesting birds to determine cavity re-use dynamics. Censused interior dry-forest bird populations to assess habitat-use of different silvicultural treatments. Surveyed vegetation to link responses of avian bird demography to forest health. Colour-banded birds and tracked local scale movement with radio-telemetry equipment. Input and management of large data set in preparation for publication.

PUBLICATIONS

● BRADLEY, D. 2008. Description of the nest and parental behaviour of the the Bare-crowned Antbird (Gymnocichla nudiceps). Ornitologia Neotropical; in press.

● BRADLEY, D. 2004. Edge-avoidance and habitat use by the Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sittacanadensis). Undergraduate research thesis, University of British Columbia.

● BRADLEY, D AND MENNILL D. J. In preparation. The vocal behaviour of the cooperatively breeding Rufous-naped Wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha). For submission to Auk in June2008.

● BRADLEY, D AND MENNILL D. J. In preparation. Duets and choruses in a group-singing tropical songbird: a functional test using playback. For submission to Animal Behaviour in August, 2008.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Graduate teaching assistant - Ornithology - third year undergraduate course focusing on the biology of birds.
Graduate teaching assistant - Tropical Ecology - upper-level undergraduate course in tropical ecology, offered through the Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology (OUPFB).
Graduate assistant supervisor - Undergraduate Research in Biology - Honours thesis project.

AWARDS

● 2007, 2008 University of Windsor Tuition Scholarship.
● 2007 Runner-up Prize for Student Poster Presentation, Society of Canadian Ornithologists Annual meeting.
● 2000 University of Winnipeg Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship.

POSTERS AND PRESENTATIONS

● 2007 Duets and choruses in a group-living tropical bird: The vocal behaviour of Rufous-naped Wrens (Campylorhynchus rufinucha)*. Poster presentation, Society of Canadian Ornithologists Annual meeting.

* My poster presentation received an honourable mention as the most impressive student research presentation at this national conference.

● 2004 Edge-avoidance and habitat use by the Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis).Undergraduate thesis presentation, Martin Lab Group, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia.