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Assistant Professor of Biology Andrea Townsend was a plenary speaker at the 2017 Birders Meeting of the Massachusetts Audubon Society on March 19th in Boston.

Assistant Professor of Biology Andrea Townsend presented a talk titled “Prevalence, pathogenic potential, and fitness consequences of Campylobacter infection on migratory crows” at the 2016 meeting of the North American Ornithological Congress (NAOC) in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 17.

An article co-authored by Assistant Professor of Biology Andrea Townsend was recently published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. “Influence of host ecology and behavior on Campylobacter jejuni prevalence and environmental contamination risk in a synanthropic wild bird species” describes seasonal variation in the prevalence of Campylobacter infection of wild crows in Davis, Calif.

“The interacting effects of food, spring temperature, and global climate cycles on population dynamics of a migratory songbird,” an article co-authored by Assistant Professor of Biology Andrea Townsend, was recently published in Global Change Biology.

If prompted to identify animals that display high levels of intelligence, many people would probably name well-known exotic species, such as dolphins or chimps. However, one common species that many of us interact with every day may be among the most intelligent species on earth — crows. From tool-building and abstract thinking to complex social behavior, crows display intelligence to a degree that has been of great interest to scientists in recent years.