Biography

Ciara graduated from University College Cork in 2017 with a BSc (Hons) in Zoology. During her four years as an undergraduate she gained an interest in animal behaviour, evolutionary ecology, and ornithology. For her final year research project, she studied the effects of disturbance on the behaviour of foraging shorebirds. Upon completion of her degree she spent three months as a conservation volunteer on Aride Island Nature Reserve in the Seychelles- an important seabird breeding refuge. She then worked as a field research assistant with the University of Exeter on the Sparrow Weaver Project in South Africa, for six months. 

Research Interests

Ciara’s research will focus on potential trade-offs between traits involved in sexual selection and how they relate to mating success and cognitive ability in great tits.