Postdoctoral Fellow
Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology
I am an early career ecologist with a broad range of experience in ecological disciplines spanning individual-to-population scales. I am fascinated by species interactions with their environments and ecological communities, and concerned with how they might respond to changing anthropogenic pressures. These responses and interactions often start at the individual level and later manifest population level consequences. As a result, my research and collaborations have focused on ecophysiology (particularly immune physiology), behavioural ecology, and population ecology.
I’ve joined the Fusani Lab at KLIVV as a post-doctoral researcher studying the movement and behavioural ecology of Kentish Plovers on Maio Island, in Cabo Verde. With this project, co-led by Dr Ivan Maggini, I’m currently investigating how the individual movement behaviours and social interactions jointly shape reproductive decisions and outcomes. Uniquely in this migratory species, Kentish Plovers breeding in Maio are year-round residents on the island living at relatively high densities, making them an ideal study system to investigate how individuals move and socialise. With new solar-powered GPS-tags, I am planning to track the majority of individuals in the populations – and therefore proximity and social interactions among individuals – to see where, how, and with whom the plovers are moving around the island. This project will generate fundamental understanding of the drivers of reproductive strategies at high-resolution, and also identify important habitats and areas for the applied conservation of the population.
Research Gate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Roast
Google Scholar
https://scholar.google.at/citations?user=e7fRqawAAAAJ&hl=en
Personal Website
fusanilab 