WVXU: Quail 'recording studio' may help birds recover
UC students talk to WVXU about quail conservation
WVXU highlighted the University of Cincinnati's research on northern bobwhite, which has implications for the species' conservation.
A bobwhite in a UC biology lab. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
UC College of Arts and Sciences assistant professor Elizabeth Hobson and her students are studying a covey of quail in her biology lab. Bobwhite are in sharp decline in Ohio and other parts of their historic range where they used to number in the millions.
UC undergraduate Sophia Clemen and Hobson have created soundproof quail "recording studios" to capture each bird's distinctive calls to map on a spectrograph. This could help wildlife conservationists distinguish individual calling birds in the wild to better understand their populations and distribution.
UC graduate student Sanjay Prasher is studying the gregarious quail's social systems over time.
Hobson created a novel system that uses QR codes to manage animal care efficiently in her lab. She wrote about her methods in the journal Animal Behavior and Cognition.
Featured image at top: UC assistant professor Elizabeth Hobson holds a bobwhite in her biology lab. Hobson studies animal behavior, behavioral ecology and cognition, among other research topics. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
UC biology student Sophia Clemen, left, UC assistant professor Elizabeth Hobson and UC graduate student Sanjay Prasher study northern bobwhite in Hobson's biology lab. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Related Stories
UC offers new social justice, Latin American studies degrees
October 7, 2020
University of Cincinnati students can now enroll to earn a Bachelor’s degree in two new humanities programs: Social Justice, and Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies, offered through UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.
UC to host symposium on socially just community research
Event: March 5, 2021 9:30 AM
On Friday, March 5, The Cincinnati Project (TCP) will host its seventh-annual symposium titled “The Art and Science of Socially Just Community Partnered Research,” sponsored by UC’s College of Arts and Sciences and The Taft Research Center. Director of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) Mohan Dutta will deliver the keynote speech. Based in New Zealand, CARE is a global organization dedicated to developing community-based solutions for social change, advocacy and activism, inspired by the conviction that health is a human right. Founded in 2016, TCP unites researchers from UC’s College of Arts and Sciences with community partners to benefit marginalized communities in Cincinnati, tackling economic, race, gender and health issues. Past TCP research has focused on high eviction rates in Hamilton County, resulting in city legislation to protect the rights of renters through an eviction prevention plan. In addition to the keynote speaker, the symposium will include discussion panels from area organizations such as Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, the Center for Closing the Health Gap, and UC faculty researchers. Topics will include ways in which community-based research can be conducted in socially just ways, in order to benefit the communities it is designed to serve. The symposium will be held virtually via Zoom from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and is free and open to the public. For more information or to register, please visit The Cincinnati Project.
UC student body leaders use platform to empower others
October 28, 2021
University of Cincinnati student body leaders have taken on a full slate of undergraduate activities, including classes, studies, Bearcats games and leading student government for UC. Elected as president and vice president earlier this semester, the students set to work delivering on their platform of diversity and inclusion, sustainability, campus spirit, mental health and accessibility. Initiatives so far include a Mental Health Advocacy Week, a career-ready clothing drive and civil discourse training.