Current research

Bird Migration

• Global migrations: ICARUS (International Cooporation of Animal Researchers Using Space); DTUsat: Developing a satellite-tracking system for small, 5g GPS tags.
• Seasonal distributions and migration routes: Improving analysis of non-breeding distributions using ring recoveries (EURING atlas); Migration of red-backed shrikes and thrush nightingales using geolocators
• Effects of climate change: Phenological changes in migration monitoring data (primarily from Christiansø); Analyses of ring recoveries
• Migrants in Africa: Monitoring migrants in Ghana

Navigation

• The migratory orientation programme: Orientation of vagrant birds on the Faroe Islands
• Navigation in birds and bats

Conservation (and population ecology)

• Rare Danish breeding birds: The Danish little owl project; Peregrine, white-tailed and golden eagles, Mediterranean gull, little tern, Tengmalm's owl
• Environmental impact assessment: FEBI Fehmarn Belt EIA

Copenhagen Bird Ringing Centre

• Faroe Island migration atlas
• Constant Effort Site ringing
• Spread of bird-borne diseases
• Avian flu surveillance in Denmark
• Monitoring (Skagen and Christians Island)
• Wild bird recovery stations

Lab members: 

• Postdoc: Anders P. Tøttrup (at CMEC).
• PhD students: Mikkel Willemoes Kristensen.
• MSc students: Troels Eske Ortvad. Co-supervising Peter Søgaard Jørgensen (Main supervisor: Carsten Rahbek CMEC).
• Curatorial, research and administrative assistants are: Jesper Johannes Madsen, Kjeld T. Pedersen and Jens Mikkel Lausten.

Main collaborators include the Head of Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Prof Dr Carsten Rahbek, University of Copenhagen; Martin Wikelski, Princeton University, on many aspects of animal orientation and migration, primarily using conventional radio tracking from airoplanes and satellite telemetry; and Prof Dr Thomas Alerstam, Bird Migration Group, Lund University on satellite tracking of migratory raptors.

Primary fields of research

Welcome to the BIRD MIGRATION LAB

Primary research areas are within ornithology with a focus on bird migration, especially the orientation systems of long-distance migrants, but also including animal orientation and radio tracking in general. Other primary research areas include all aspects of the distribution, evolution and ecology of birds.

Overall research themes: Bird Migration: Migration routes; Climate change effects; Monitoring; Spread of bird-borne diseases. Navigation: Navigation and orientation, the migratory orientation programme. Conservation: Rare Danish breeding birds, Environmental impact assessment

I am Head of the Copenhagen Bird Ringing Centre of the Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark and part of the DG Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate Change

Introductory remarks on publicationslist

Teaching

Courses

Danmarks fauna - hvirveldyr (3. year, block 4), responsible teacher and lecturer

Supervision

Main subjects are in the fields of ornithology, bird migration, orientation, simulation of movements, bird conservation and avian biology in general. Masters and bachelor students are welcomed in these fields, and interested students should feel free to contact me.

Field projects could involve trapping, ringing, radio tracking, geolocators or orientation cage experiments.

Theoretical projects could involve the following: Analysis of (1) ringing data, (2) satellite telemetry data, (3) migration routes/patterns, (4) the extensive ringing data from Christiansø (including stopover ecology/competition, trends, influence of climate change, etc.) or (5) the occurrence of rarities.

In general, financial support will be limited, making studies using radio tracking or satellite telemetry and long-term field-studies dependent on external financing.

CV

Profile 

Publication record includes 25 international peer-reviewed publications (15 as first author, 20 covered by ISI), including as second author in Nature, and as first author in PNAS, Proc R Soc Lond B, Oikos, Oecologia, Behav Ecol, Behav Ecol Sociobiol, Anim Behav and J Avian Biol. Responsible co-author on a 880-page book on migration of Danish Birds. Oral presentations on 12 international conferences/workshops with invited talks at two. Reviews for 16 ecological and ornithological journals. Popular communication through 20 popular articles and 10 lectures as well as a number of national features (TV, journals and newspapers). A number of scientific papers featured in international (e.g. BBC, National Geographic, Boston Globe) and national media (e.g. Berlingske Tidende, Politiken, Weekendavisen). Bi-monthly column in Weekendavisen. The PNAS 2007 paper has subsequently been featured on sciencebuddies.org as an educational tool (science-fair projects).

PI on the DTUsat project, which aims to produce a system that can track small birds the size of a cuckoo on long-distance migrations. Project leader on the Danish Little Owl Project, a research based conservation project on the endangered Danish little owl population using conventional radio tracking. Co-PI on the ICARUS initiative (www.icarusinitiative.org) with Prof Dr Martin Wikelski and member of the Steering Committee of MIGRATE (Migration Interest Group: Research Applied Toward Eduation), a US-NSF Research Coordination Network in Biological Sciences.

Extensive experience/training in bird identification, surveys, ringing and capturing of birds as well as satellite-based and conventional radio-tracking.

Appointments: •University of Copenhagen, Post-doc, 2005-present.  •Princeton University, Research Associate, 2006.  •University of Copenhagen, teaching assistant, 2001

Academic Awards: •Post-doctoral fellowship, The Danish Research Agency, 2005,  •Travel grant, European Science Foundation, 2002-04, •DTUsat payload competition, DTU, 2005

Committees: •EURING (European Union for bird RINGing) board member, 2009-

Editorial Board: •Ringing and Migration, 2009-