Meet the Principal Investigator
Gary Burness, PhD
I am an ecological and evolutionary physiologist. My research focuses on animal energetics, particularly how animals allocate energy among the competing demands of metabolism, immunity, growth and reproduction. Because all living organisms use energy, students in our lab work with various species, from birds to fish to mammals, depending on the research question of interest.
Current lab members
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Taylor Brown, PhD Candidate
Taylor completed her BSc (Hons) at Acadia University and her MSc. at York University. She is interested in the factors that cause the stranding of fledgling seabirds each year in coastal communities. Her current research takes place in Newfoundland where she is working on both Atlantic puffins and Leach’s Storm Petrels. This research is conducted in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Toronto Zoo.
Personal website
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Megan Heft, PhD Candidate
Megan completed her BS (Hons) at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. She is interested in the interaction between artificial light at night and temperature regulation in birds. Currently, she is working with nest-box breeding tree swallows
Personal website
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Emma Byers, PhD Candidate
Emma recently converted from an an MSc to PhD. Her thesis is research explores causes and consequences of phenotypic variation in butterflies. Emma is co-supervised by Michelle DiLeo (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry).
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Morgan Jaggard, MSc student
Morgan completed his BSc (Hons) at the the University of Guelph. He is studying whether sustained energy expenditure in animals is limited by their risk of overheating.
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Anna Lane, BSc (Hons)
Anna completed her Biomedical Science undergraduate degree and currently holds a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council award (NSERC-USRA). Anna is studying how artificial light at night impacts immune function in wild birds.