Casey Coomes

Visiting assistant professor of biology

Address:
Department of Biology – CIS 230A
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Telephone: 518-580-8066
E-mail: ccoomes@skidmore.edu  

Education:

• PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2021
• BA, Biological Sciences, Transylvania University, 2015

Research Interests:
My research focuses on the impacts of rising temperatures on animal behavior, specifically communication in songbirds. Songbirds are extremely vulnerable to high temperatures, which are only becoming more ubiquitous with climate change. Additionally, most rely on songs to find mates and produce offspring. Male songbirds (signalers) produce a species-specific song (a signal) which is transmitted through the environment to females (receivers) who choose a mate based on the quality of the song. My dissertation research examined the effects of high temperatures on signalers, signals, and receivers using laboratory-based techniques in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata. I found that high temperature temperatures caused males to produces fewer songs and females to become less discriminatory. This pattern could lead to reduced reproductive success during heatwaves. I am currently developing a project to test how these patterns play out in the wild in a threatened songbird, the Bachman's sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis).