Abigail Holt

Email: [email protected]

Having developed a passion for research during my undergraduate degree, I decided to explore avenues into research following my graduation. I spent four weeks at two remote sites in Indonesia with Operation Wallacea completing hands-on learning about both terrestrial and marine survey techniques. I have also spent two weeks at Elephants for Africa's research camp in the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana volunteering on Imani Wilson's project collecting data about human-elephant-livestock conflict.

To further my research knowledge and capability, I am now pursuing a Master's by Research, focussing on avian navigation.

My postgraduate research centres on navigation in homing pigeons with particular focus on idiosyncratic navigational strategies and routes. This project aims to ascertain whether individual homing pigeons consistently navigate via the same methods and which environmental cues are driving their decisions.

My undergraduate research investigated the impact of bird feeder perch design on vigilance and foraging efficiency in small Passerines. This involved monitoring and filming the behaviour of eleven species at two bird feeders and then analysing the video footage using BORIS (Behavioural Observation Research Interactive Software).