Dr Andrea Griffin / Our Staff / School of Psychology / Faculty of Science and Information Technology / The University of Newcastle, Australia

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	Dr Andrea Griffin
Position:	ARC post-doctoral fellow
Faculty/Division:	Faculty of Science and Information Technology School of Psychology
Contact Details:	Staff Directory entry
Qualifications:	PhD 2002 Macquarie University, Australia MSc 1996 University of Geneva, Switzerland Post-grad specialisation Animal Behaviour/Neurobiology 1995 University of Zurich, Switzerland BSc 1994 University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Research Areas:	My research interests fall broadly into the areas of animal learning and cognition. I am particularly interested in understanding how animals solve ecologically relevant problems they encounter in the wild. In my lab, we use the Indian mynah (Acridotheres tristis), a highly invasive, highly social, songbird, to explore a variety of questions on animal learning and cognition. Projects include understanding how Indian mynahs recognize danger and how they learn to recognize novel threats. We are also interested in whether mynahs learn to avoid dangerous places and whether they socially transmit this information to conspecifics. Finally, we are exploring the willingness on mynahs to explore novel places and their ability to learn quickly about novel food sources. Findings provide important information into the cognitive and ecological attributes of a highly invasive avian species. As such, they allow us to test theoretical models of animal cognition, but also to inform the development of wildlife management strategies for avian pests. Link to: Research Interests
Research Groups:	Animal Behaviour Research Group Neuroscience Research Group
Research Grants:	2006-: Australian Research Council postdoctoral fellowship 2002-2004: Swiss National Foundation postdoctoral fellowship 2001-2002: Cooperative Research Centre for Conservation and Management of Marsupials postdoctoral fellowship 1998-2001: Macquarie University International Postgraduate Research Award 1998-2001: Department of Employment, Training, and Youth Affairs 1998: Swiss Janggen Poehn Foundation stipend
Honours, Distinctions, Societies:	First prize in the Society for Conservation Biology award contest for best student paper. 2001. Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting. University of Hawaii, Hilo, USA. Honourable mention in the Warder Clyde Allee award contest for best student paper. 2001. Animal Behavior Society Annual Meeting. Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA. Bolliger Award for best student paper. 2001. Australian Mammal Society Annual Meeting. Brisbane, Australia. Honourable mention in the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour award contest for best student paper. 2001. Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour Annual Meeting. University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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Publications:	Link to: Researcher Report Link to: Other Publications