The Connor Lab
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Research Interests
I am interested in ecological research with conservation applications in the Anthropocene. Much of my work focuses on wildlife population distributions, sizes, dynamics, and connectivity. I am particularly interested in how natural and anthropogenic factors interact to drive these patterns, and how these lessons can be harnessed for more effective conservation. Of ongoing and recent interest to me is highlighting and promoting the use of indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and cultural practices in the effective stewardship of wildlife and landscapes, the utilization of community science data in distribution modeling, and the estimation of wildlife population sizes and dynamics across broad spatial scales. In my work I apply a variety of methods including field surveys, remote sensing/GIS, and hierarchical (sometimes Bayesian) statistical modeling.
Research interests
In the Behavioural & Sensory Ecology Lab, we are interested in understanding and protecting biodiversity from the scale of individuals to ecosystems. We use visual ecology and animal colouration to explore how spatial and temporal variation in environment, biodiversity, and behaviour leads to diversification both within and between species.
Our work combines field and laboratory experiments with computational modelling to investigate how colouration interacts with other behavioural, morphological, and physiological traits. These data allow us to ask how animals perceive their surroundings, make decisions with limited or conflicting information, and respond to changes in community structure, predation risk, and the visual background.
We are interested in all species, but much of our research focuses on amphibians, insects, and their avian predators.
Prior to joining Trinity College Dublin in 2023, I completed my PhD at the University of Bristol (UK, 2012-2016) and held postdoctoral positions at McGill University (QC Canada, 2016-2018), McMaster University (ON Canada, 2019-2022), and the University of Helsinki (Finland, 2023).