Davide M. Dominoni
Curriculum Vitae
2008-2009 Field assistant in Australia, Washington State University, USA
2008 MSc in Natural Science, University of Parma, Italy
2005 BSc in Natural Science, University of Milan, Italy
PhD Advisory Committee
Jesko Partecke, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology; link
Martin Wikelski, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology; link
Michaela Hau, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology; link
Barbara Helm, University of Konstanz; link
Till Roenneberg, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich; link
Research Interests & Goals
My primary interest is conservation biology, and more specifically causes in the consequences of human presence on the surrounding environment. In my dissertation I am concentrating my work on the evolutionary consequences of urbanization. Never like in the last two centuries the environment has been affected and modified by the presence and activity of human beings. Urban sprawl forced animals to cope with new situations, such as fragmentation of their natural habitat, presence of novel objects, street lights and noise, different microclimate and a general anthropogenic habitat structure. Cities represent a new ecosystem where natural selection is likely to be acting even now, as you are reading this brief introduction. In this scenario, some species seem unable to adapt to this relatively new environment while other, mainly generalist species, appear to be successful in colonizing urban areas. The main topic of my research concerns the effects of light and noise pollution on daily and seasonal organization of activities in the European blackbird (Turdus merula). I am combining advanced animal tracking techniques in the field with experimental set-ups in the laboratory, in order to elucidate potential differences in the expression of daily and annual rhythms in urban and forest-dwelling blackbirds.
Publications
Awards & Scholarships
2006 Leonardo da Vinci Program, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
2005 Erasmus Program, University of Salamanca, Spain
Hometown
Milan, Italy
Address
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Migration and Immuno-Ecology
Fon: +49 7732 1501-54
E-mail: ddominoni(at)orn.mpg.de
