Author Archives: Kevin

Nick Mason and Kevin Burns recently attended the 5th North American Ornithological Congress in Vancouver. Nick presented his work on evolutionary correlates among vocalizations, habitat, and plumage color in tanagers. This work represents a collaboration between Nick, Kevin, and former … Continue reading →

Congratulations to Pascal Title who recently defended his MS thesis on niche evolution in tanagers. Pascal’s thesis adds another dimension to our ongoing studies of tanager diversification. Pascal used environmental data in combination with georeferenced occurrence data to see if … Continue reading →

Burns, K. J. and A. J. Shultz. 2012. Widespread cryptic dichromatism and ultraviolet reflectance in the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds: implications of accounting for avian vision in the study of plumage evolution. The Auk 129: 211-221. pdf We just … Continue reading →

Congratulations to Nick Mason, who successfully defended his MS thesis on the evolution of song within tanagers. His research compliments other research in the lab on the evolution of plumage, morphology, and ecological niche in tanagers. Specifically, he looked at … Continue reading →

Burns lab graduate student Luke Klicka recently received three grants to help fund his project investigating the phylogeography of the Bell’s Vireo. The Bell’s Vireo is a widespread North American species consisting of four subspecies. However, no genetic data has … Continue reading →

Burns lab graduate student Nick Mason was one of three graduate students asked to speak at this year’s Bio Department Symposium. He presented some of his work on plumage and song evolution in the genus Sporophila (neotropical seedeaters) that he … Continue reading →

We recently welcomed a new MS student into the Burns lab, Luke Klicka.  As an undergraduate, Luke worked in the lab, field, and museum on a variety of projects.  He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he … Continue reading →

We said goodbye to Allison Shultz in August. Allison recently completed her MS thesis on the evolution of plumage coloration in tanagers. She studied the evolution of plumage in tanagers using a model of avian vision.  She gathered thousands of … Continue reading →

The Burns lab had a busy Summer 2011.  Four of us went to the Evolution meetings in Norman, Oklahoma where Allison, Pascal, and Nick all presented some of the results of their MS theses. Nick also presented a talk at … Continue reading →