Pratik Gupte

Pratik Gupte

PhD student

Project: Shorebird movement and individual strategies

Shorebird movement and individual strategies

What does it mean for populations when movement strategies vary between individuals? When do these differences develop, how consistent are they, and how do environmental conditions bear upon them?

During my PhD at RUG, I’ll try to understand the causes and outcomes of individual differences in behavioural strategies (often called ‘animal personalities’) especially in relation to environmental change. With supervisors and my colleague S. Ersoy from NIOZ, I aim to test predictions from theory in a well developed shorebird system, that of red knot (Calidris canutus islandica) movement and behaviour, using a combination of experimental and observational work.

Ongoing work from previous positions

Some previous work is still making its way through the pipeline of publication, this includes GPS telemetry of African elephants in South Africa, and family size dynamics in migratory geese.