Dr. Scott Taylor | Taylor Lab

Bio:
Dr. Taylor is the Director of the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station. Research in his group focuses on using natural hybrid zones and recent radiations to understand the genetic bases of traits involved in reproductive isolation, population divergence, and speciation, and the impacts of anthropogenic change, including climate change, on species distributions, interactions, and evolution. We're fascinated by natural history and the intersections between art and science, and we're committed to doing our part to support our community.

Abstract:
Chickadees are familiar and widespread non-migratory birds that have amazing adaptations to survive cold winters, including the ability to remember hundreds of thousands of individual seed cache locations. Recovering these caches is critical for overwinter survival. Dr. Taylor will share recent results from two different studies, one focused on a chickadee hybrid zone and one focused on a single population of mountain chickadees, that both provide insights into the genetic basis of variation in spatial cognition in chickadees.