Karinne Tennenbaum

I am a scientist, educator, and storyteller. I am interested in avian migration, particularly partial migrant systems. Partial migration occurs when some individuals in a population are migratory and others are sedentary. Widely considered the “evolutionary turntable between migratoriness and sedentariness,” resident populations may maintain cryptic genetic variation for migratory activity. Thus, avian systems of partial migrants are perfect opportunities to study the genetics underlying observed differences in migratory strategy.

For my DPhil, supervised by Sonya Clegg and Ben Sheldon, I plan to explore partial migration across species and systems—Silvereyes in Tasmania, Common Chiffchaffs in the UK, and European Robins in Germany—using a combination of genetic techniques and fieldwork.

behaviour ecology genetics ornithology