PhD project: Foraging in a stochastic environment
Ongoing
I am currently working my PhD on optimal foraging in a stochastic environment. My first project is a feeder experiment on variance sensitivity in wild Siberian Jays. Variance sensitivity has been thoroughly studied in laboratories, but captive birds may not understand and respond adaptively to such artificial changes in their state (e.g. energy reserves). We know the birds status in the group, their energetical state and can relate this to their choice of variance. I am also doing feeder experiments to test for optimal sampling when the jays do not have perfect information on the probability and size of reward.
I am supervised by Professor Jonathan Wright & Dr. Anahita Kazem at NTNU, and I am lucky enough to "borrow" Professor Jan Ekman's study population in Northern Sweden.

Parental allocation in relation to partner quality
Ongoing
The differential allocation hypothesis states that females invest more in offspring of attractive males, with support from diverse taxonomic groups. Lately several studies have also found the opposite pattern, higher investment in offspring sired by unattractive males. This has been called reproductive compensation, and recent modelling has suggested that this should be relatively rare in nature. I would like to and am planning to contribute to this field both theoretically and empirically.

Population consequences of prospecting
Ongoing
How does the evolution of site fidelity and prospecting behaviour affect metapopulation dynamics? This is the problem I am working on with Professor Hanna Kokko at the Australian National University. Earlier ecological modelling has shown that dispersal mechanisms and rates can be an important factor in determining population persistence. Site fidelity can increase subpopulation extinction rates, and may therefore affect species ranges. I am developing a model to look at how evolution fits into this. How will individually optimal prospecting behaviour affect subpopulation extinction and colonization rates?

MSc project: Roe deer winter habitat use
January 2004 - December 2005
My master thesis "Winter habitat use of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in the presence of lynx (Lynx lynx)" was a part of the Scandlynx project , and I was supervised by Professor Atle Mysterud at CEES, University of Oslo.
Population sizes of large carnivores have increased in Scandinavia during the last century. Increases in predator population sizes can affect prey populations not only through increased mortality, but also through behavioural responses as prey redevelop anti-predator behaviours. In my master study, I investigated the habitat use of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in an area with lynx (Lynx lynx) to assess the relative importance of predators and other factors in shaping their use of habitat and cover. Few clear differences between my results and earlier studies from areas without lynx were found. Despite the presence of resident lynx, few individual roe deer are ever attacked by lynx in this area, thus it will be highly adaptive to adjust trade-offs between predator avoidance and other factors like climatic stress and available forage in favour of the latter when predation risk is low. It may also be possible that roe deer adjust their level of predator avoidance to the immediate predation pressure. To reveal such a response further studies on responses to predator presence are required.

Other
I have also been doing field work on various other projects. These include a project on life history strategies of birds by Dr. Richard Pettifor from Institute of Zoology. In that project I was working with long-tailed widowbirds, sociable weavers, and white-browed sparrow-weavers in South Africa. Another season was spent on Bear Island working for SEAPOP of the Norwegian Polar Institute. This project monitor population dynamics of seabirds on the island, and I also participated in starting a new part of the project focusing on great skuas.