My name is Brett Hodinka and I am originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I completed my Bachelor's and Master's of Science degrees at The University of Alabama and Western Kentucky University, respectively. Currently, I am pursuing my doctoral degree in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia under the advisory of Dr. Tony D. Williams.
My current work integrates physiology, evolutionary biology, and animal behavior in attempts to increase our knowledge of the mechanisms underpinning individual variation in a number of avian life-history traits that contribute most to variation in fitness. More specifically, I am investigating the behavioral and physiological mechanisms birds may employ to attenuate the costs of increased workload associated with reproduction and exploring the idea of "animal athletes" in the context of ecological performance to identify individual variation in physiology and behavior that may lead to increased fitness. |