Research
Why are some species social while others are not? How do animals communicate with each other, and what information do they convey? These questions drive my research, which lies at the intersection of ecology, behavior, and neurobiology. I am broadly interested in how these fields can be integrated to understand the development and function of social behaviors and communication in animals.
Electric fish offer a unique opportunity to study these phenomena as they offer a wide variety of social lives that can be explored through electric signals. We design and deploy electrode arrays and required analysis software to monitor electric fish in their natural habitats. This non-invasive technology captures electrolocation- and communication signals and tracks movement, providing detailed, quantitative observation of behavior in the wild—an approach that is unique to electric fish.
Using data analyses and machine learning, we process the large-scale datasets generated from field recordings, which allows us to detect subtle patterns in communication and movement. I aim to observe, compare, and understand social interactions in electric eels and other species of electric fish in their natural environments.
By combining the study of communication signals and movement patterns, I seek to uncover how and why animals interact during courtship, competition, and foraging. This way, we might start to understand how communication mediates complex social behaviors in species where little is currently known, let alone observable in the wild.
Philosophy
On a personal note, I am a big proponent of open software, open data, and open science. I believe that sharing knowledge, tools and data is essential for reproducibility and the advancement of science. This is why I am a big fan of anything scriptable: Code is the best way to document, share and reproduce data analysis workflows. You can find anything including analysis code, poster and presentation templates and my Linux system configuration on my GitHub page.