Ep 44: Showcasing Corvidae
Synopsis
Dr. Kaeli Swift joined the podcast to talk about Corvid biology, ecology and cultural influence! Corvid research at large is pushing the scientific boundaries of what intelligence in the animal kingdom truly is, and how it can be compared across the board. Corvids truly bring a new definition to the slang term, ‘bird brain’. This episode broadly mentions Corvids, but goes into details about the Corvus genus, which involves all Crow, Raven and Rook species.
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Meet the Guest Star
Dr. Kaeli Swift:
Kaeli has loved wildlife—especially birds—and asking questions about animal behavior and cognition for a very long time. While she was an undergrad at Willamette University (2005-2009), she discovered that crows and other corvids offered the perfect marriage of her interests, and has been hooked on them ever since. In 2012, she was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue this passion as a graduate student at the University of Washington. As a Masters and Doctoral student (2012-2018), she dedicated herself to understanding what American crows do in response to dead crows, as well as what adaptive motivations might drive their response.
Her graduate research included both field-based projects observing wild crows, and non-invasive/non-lethal functional imaging studies aimed at understanding what was going on in the crow brain during these experiences.
After graduating, she spent a year as a Post-Doctoral researcher at the University of Washington studying the foraging behaviors of Canada jays in Denali National Park. And currently, Kaeli is a visiting lecturer at the University of Washington where she teaches a variety of ornithology and wildlife ecology courses.
In addition, science communication will forever remain a core part of Kaeli’s identity as a scientist and a person. She steadily gives public talks to audiences ranging from elementary students to career academics. Her Video, audio, and print reports of research are publicly available, and have been featured by National Geographic, PBS, the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Ologies podcast, Science Friday and many other reputable sources. If you want to learn more or connect, head to her website via the link below.
