News and Updates
January 2024: New paper out in Nature Comms! Find it here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44613-0
July 2023: Presented bird aggression evolution at AOS 2023!
June 2023: Presented bird aggression evolution at Evolution 2023!
January 2023: Welcome graduate student Lauren Smith to the lab!
September 2022: First paper with Buffalo State undergrads accepted!
June 2022: Long delay but presenting at AOS 2022 in Puerto Rico!
April 2021: New papers on comparative bioacoustics, evolution of hybridization, and macroevolution of bird repertoires have been published recently!
October 2020: New paper on pumpkin beer labels out. Paper on vocal repertoires accepted!
December 2018: New paper published with Kirsty MacLeod as the first author! Will post link soon. Completed first semester as well!
October 2018: Leighton Lab is up and running at SUNY Buffalo State! Have successfully acquired permits to collect Temnothorax in local areas and will be collecting colonies for research and classes soon.
May 2018: Happy to announce that the Leighton Lab is starting at SUNY Buffalo State in Fall 2018. Check back for updates!
May 2018: Completed first full course at Cornell. Paper with co-authors submitted today. Other big news on the way.
March 2018: Some fun press on the Hairy and Downy Woodpecker article from Audubon:
http://www.audubon.org/news/theres-new-theory-why-downy-and-hairy-woodpeckers-look-so-alike
February 2018: Paper on mimicry between Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers is out in Animal Behavior and can be found here: https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/science/article/pii/S0003347218300265
December 2017: Paper on social and vocal complexity published! Check it out here: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1868/20171508
November 2017: Two manuscripts at Animal Behavior and one manuscript at Proceedings accepted for publication! More details soon.
September 2017: Starting to teach my first class at Cornell on ant behavior and house hunting.
Summer 2017: Presenting my research at Animal Behavior, Evolution, and AOS conferences this summer.
January 2017: Paper on task switching in Temnothorax rugatulus is out in Behavioral Ecology!
August 2016: Had a successful presentation at NAOC2016 and a great time catching up with colleagues and friends.
February 2016: Three papers have been accepted and are in press. The population genomics of sociable weavers, my review of nest construction, and the paper on aggression in sociable weavers. See CV for details!
July 2015: I've been awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology to work with Mike Webster and Irby Lovette at Cornell. I will be moving out to Ithaca at the end of 2015.
June 2015: My paper on stable isotopes and sociable weavers has just come out in Avian Biology Research. Check out CV for details.
March 2015: Successfully defended my dissertation! Also the stable isotope manuscript has been accepted to Avian Biology Research.
February 2015: I've been asked to featured speaker at a nest construction meeting in London in September 2015! I'm excited to present my work on sociable weavers at this location.
January 2015: Conference competition update. I recently competed in the Division of Animal Behavior's Best Student Talk at SICB 2015 in West Palm Beach and won the competition. I feel honored to have been selected among the talented group of behavioral biologists. Additionally, I am about to start my PERT Postdoctoral position in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.
December 2014: The paper on the influence of nest size on thermal buffering has been published in Avian Biology Research. My PLoSONE paper also received its first citation. It's been a good month for research.
January 2024: New paper out in Nature Comms! Find it here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44613-0
July 2023: Presented bird aggression evolution at AOS 2023!
June 2023: Presented bird aggression evolution at Evolution 2023!
January 2023: Welcome graduate student Lauren Smith to the lab!
September 2022: First paper with Buffalo State undergrads accepted!
June 2022: Long delay but presenting at AOS 2022 in Puerto Rico!
April 2021: New papers on comparative bioacoustics, evolution of hybridization, and macroevolution of bird repertoires have been published recently!
October 2020: New paper on pumpkin beer labels out. Paper on vocal repertoires accepted!
December 2018: New paper published with Kirsty MacLeod as the first author! Will post link soon. Completed first semester as well!
October 2018: Leighton Lab is up and running at SUNY Buffalo State! Have successfully acquired permits to collect Temnothorax in local areas and will be collecting colonies for research and classes soon.
May 2018: Happy to announce that the Leighton Lab is starting at SUNY Buffalo State in Fall 2018. Check back for updates!
May 2018: Completed first full course at Cornell. Paper with co-authors submitted today. Other big news on the way.
March 2018: Some fun press on the Hairy and Downy Woodpecker article from Audubon:
http://www.audubon.org/news/theres-new-theory-why-downy-and-hairy-woodpeckers-look-so-alike
February 2018: Paper on mimicry between Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers is out in Animal Behavior and can be found here: https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/science/article/pii/S0003347218300265
December 2017: Paper on social and vocal complexity published! Check it out here: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1868/20171508
November 2017: Two manuscripts at Animal Behavior and one manuscript at Proceedings accepted for publication! More details soon.
September 2017: Starting to teach my first class at Cornell on ant behavior and house hunting.
Summer 2017: Presenting my research at Animal Behavior, Evolution, and AOS conferences this summer.
January 2017: Paper on task switching in Temnothorax rugatulus is out in Behavioral Ecology!
August 2016: Had a successful presentation at NAOC2016 and a great time catching up with colleagues and friends.
February 2016: Three papers have been accepted and are in press. The population genomics of sociable weavers, my review of nest construction, and the paper on aggression in sociable weavers. See CV for details!
July 2015: I've been awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology to work with Mike Webster and Irby Lovette at Cornell. I will be moving out to Ithaca at the end of 2015.
June 2015: My paper on stable isotopes and sociable weavers has just come out in Avian Biology Research. Check out CV for details.
March 2015: Successfully defended my dissertation! Also the stable isotope manuscript has been accepted to Avian Biology Research.
February 2015: I've been asked to featured speaker at a nest construction meeting in London in September 2015! I'm excited to present my work on sociable weavers at this location.
January 2015: Conference competition update. I recently competed in the Division of Animal Behavior's Best Student Talk at SICB 2015 in West Palm Beach and won the competition. I feel honored to have been selected among the talented group of behavioral biologists. Additionally, I am about to start my PERT Postdoctoral position in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.
December 2014: The paper on the influence of nest size on thermal buffering has been published in Avian Biology Research. My PLoSONE paper also received its first citation. It's been a good month for research.