Principal Investigator
Christopher B. Sturdy (he/him)
Professor for the Psychology Department at the University of Alberta. Canada Research Chair in animal Cognition, Communication, and Neuroethology. In my free time I enjoy walking the dogs, cooking/eating the food, and lifting the weights #mswarrior
Graduate Students
Prateek Sahu (he/him)
Currently a PhD candidate after completing Masters’ with SNL. Working on auditory cognition, bioacoustics, and experimental methodologies. My research interests include animal behaviour & cognition, and mechanism of behaviour. I have worked with ants, fishes and fruit flies during my undergrad and hold a Masters’ in biological sciences. I enjoy photography, reading books, and cooking.
Moriah Deimeke (she/they)
Currently an MSc student at the SNL. My primary research interests include investigating interspecies communication and perception, the role of intrinsic motivation and the encouragement of species-specific behavior in animal learning and welfare, and contact calling across species. Over the years, I have had the great privilege of working with various marine mammals, reptiles, domesticated animals and livestock, and – now – birds! This includes my dream of a study species: the mountain chickadee. Outside of research, my passions include writing, community-building, conservation, sitting ︎next to the ocean, and haunting coffee shops. ☕
Katharine Stenstrom (she/they)
I am a PhD student starting my first year in Fall 2025, having completed my Msc with the lab in Spring 2025. I’m a huge Chickadee fan! I completed my undergrad degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studying Integrative Biology. I was a field tech and independent undergrad researcher. I’m a birder in my free time.
Sarah Smeltz (she/her)
I am currently pursuing an MSc as a member of the SNL. My research primarily concerns the encoding of individual and group identity information in black-capped chickadees’ vocalizations, with emphasis on vocal convergence within the namesake chick-a-dee call. In my spare time I am an avid reader and enjoy hiking, canoeing, and pyrography. I also proudly sit as vice-president on the board of directors for Camp Warwa, a non-profit organization offering youth opportunities to experience the outdoors.
Patrick Curiston(He/him)
I am a first-year MSc student beginning in Fall 2025. My research focuses on synaptic plasticity, the cellular mechanisms underlying learning and memory, and how instrumental training influences these processes. Outside the lab, I enjoy rock climbing and spending time outdoors.
Research Associates
Erin Scully (she/her)
ATS Assistant Lecturer
I obtained both my MSc and PhD from the SNL. I like to consider myself a semi-professional catsitter and amateur weight lifter. I have a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Most of my research at the SNL surrounded cognitive and behavioural neuroscience in songbirds; specifically, black-capped chickadees and zebra finches.
Andrés Camacho(He/him)
ATS Assistant Lecturer
Undergraduate Students
Dominick Seto (he/him)
Honours Student
Volunteers
SNL Alumni (Selected)
Current SNL Collaborators
- Jenna Congdon, Concordia University of Edmonton, Department of Psychology, Cognitive enrichment
- Erin Bayne, Department of Biological Sciences
- Laurie Bloomfield, Algoma University, Department of Psychology; chickadee communication
- Colleen Cassady St. Clair, Department of Biological Sciences; anthropogenic noise and habitat impacts on songbird communication and abundance
- David Gammon, Elon University, Department of Biology; Parid vocal communication
- Lauren Guillette, University of Alberta, Department of Psychology; animal learning and cognition
- Peter Hurd, University of Alberta, Department of Psychology; coping styles and personalities in birds
- Daniel Mennill, University of Windsor, Department of Biology; dominance in chickadees
- Eduardo Mercado III, SUNY Buffalo, Department of Psychology; network simulations of learning
- Ken Otter, University of Northern British Columbia, Department of Biology; dominance in chickadees
- Darren Proppe, Research Director, Wild Basin Creative Research Center, St Edwards University, anthropogenic noise and habitat impacts on songbird communication and abundance
- Yu Wang, University of Alberta, Department of Computing Science; PhD student co-supervised by Vadim Bulitko and Erin Bayne, focusing on using AI tools to understand fine-grained biological patterns through clustering and classification, aiming to recognize structures beyond the species level.