May 2023:
Wing Beat (The Complexity of Haemosporidian Infection Dynamics in Song Sparrows) – Read about our recent Ornithology article in Lydia Balogh’s blog post for the American Ornithological Society!
March 2023:
Brandon Sun – Birds of a feather smell together
Nature London – Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the Society of Canadian Ornithologists webinar
January 2023:
University of Guelph – Avian Chemical and Microbial Ecology seminar
November 2022:
CBC Marketplace – Buzzkill: Balloons (~17:17). Tune in to hear myself and other researchers talking about the ecological damages caused by balloon pollution.
December 2021:
Roots & Shoots Ponce PR – The Secret Life of the Black Witch: Smooth-billed Ani Behaviour in Puerto Rico
September 2021:
Brighter World McMaster – Royal Society of Canada awards recognize two McMaster scholars
June 2021:
Animal Ecology In Focus – Blog post about my most recent research paper on population differences in songbird preen gland microbiota.
CBC London – Myself and Ryan Leys (PhD student at University of Waterloo) have been systematically cleaning up balloons on the Long Point peninsula (Lake Erie shoreline). Click the link to read more about the environmental hazards posed by balloon releases.
May 2021:
McMaster Inspire – Field ornithology and animal behaviour research (Virtual field trip & reesarch lecture)
March 2021:
Hamilton Naturalist’s Club Bird Study Group lecture series (March 15 2021) – Can birds smell?
Picoides – Bulletin of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
February 2021:
McMaster University – On the importance of science communication
Appetizers for the Mind – Just follow your nose! How birds use smell to choose “the one”
January 2021:
The Conversation – Birds sniff out potential mates who are genetically different
November 2020:
Ontario Field Ornithologists Certificate of Appreciation for Bank Swallow advocacy.
October 2020:
CHCH – Observing the Birds (migration monitoring & bird banding ft. grumpy owl at ~10:00)
July 2020:
London Free Press – City of London Advisory Committees suspended indefinitely during COVID-19 crisis.
The Cardinal – Nature London feature on Bank Swallows at risk in London Ontario
London Environmental Network – Blog feature on Bank Swallows at risk in London Ontario
Animal Behaviour Society – Allee Symposium
June 2020:
Brendon Samuels (PhD candidate, Western University) and I have been engaged in the creation of a grassroots campaign to conserve a threatened breeding colony of roughly 2000 bank swallows in London Ontario. You can read about our efforts to protect this Threatened species here, here, here, here, and via our Facebook page. You can also read & sign our petition.
May 2020:
I was invited to give an Introduction to Birdwatching and Inclusivity in Birding talk to the Manitoba chapter of The Wildlife Society.
August 2019:
Queens University Biological Station Public Seminar – Avian chemosignals
July 2019:
Let’s Talk Science – STEM In Context: Canadian Invaders
April 2019:
Let’s Talk Science – CurioCity National Volunteer Award nominee
August 2018:
CBC London – The chemical romance of songbird oils
Western News – Smell’s role in bird mating
May 2018:
As the 2017 recipient of the NSERC Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prize for Interdisciplinary Research, I have been honoured with a lot of media attention lately!
NSERC Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prize – Researcher profile
Western News – NSERC taps two for elite national honours

The Honourable Geoff Regan, P.C., M.P.
Speaker of the House of Commons
and the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
cordially invite you
to a reception to recognize
“Canada’s Brain Trust: Celebrating Excellence in Research”
June 2017:
Western News – Vanier celebrates nation’s finest graduate students
Global News – Western researchers get 20M boost from the federal government
January 2015:
I interviewed with Dr. Hanna Rowland (University of Cambridge) for The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (The Bleepcast) to discuss my MSc research on acoustic communication in smooth-billed anis