The Ecology and Conservation Group
Shauna Baillie

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I have recently moved to Auckland from Nova Scotia, Canada to do my PhD on bellbird immune genetics and disease at Massey University. I will give you a little bit of background on myself and my research interests here, and for more information on my current PhD research please click on the thesis title link above.

I became hooked on studying birds as a BSc student ever since visiting the Acadia University Bon Portage Island Field Station, which is now the Atlantic Bird Observatory. I ended up spending the better part of several summers working on several projects there while employed by the Department of Natural Resources including the pilot project that would lead to the establishment of Bon Portage as a recognised bird ringing station. My BSc research involved Common Eider ?Somateria mollissima crèche behaviour and the availability of marine invertebrates in two types of macro-algae in the rocky shores of Nova Scotia, Canada.

I did my MSc in the late 1990s with Dr. Ian Jones at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. The research was centred on foraging theory in breeding sub-arctic seabirds after a capelin fishery collapse in Labrador, Canada. The main question was how does variation in prey base affect breeding seabirds? Previous to this study, many seabirds breeding along the east coast of northern Canada were thought to rely heavily on capelin during the breeding season. In the near absence of this main prey, complete breeding failure should have been imminent. According to optimal foraging theory, birds may spend more time and effort foraging as food supply decreases. Eventually, the costs get too high and breeding in any given year is abandoned. To assess the threshold at which seabirds trade-off adult survival for reproductive success, I studied the behaviour of Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica at different temporal and spatial scales using parameters such as latitude, population size, adult condition, breeding output and phenology, and chick growth and diet. In the end, the puffins surprised us all! Contrary to expected, Atlantic puffins switched prey types resulting in good breeding success. Puffins possibly traded-off fatty chicks for breeding output by increasing foraging time and effort.

Over the years since then, I have worked with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) on their Birds Oiled at Sea program and dealt with seabirds associated with offshore oil platforms. Before that, I went to live in Mississippi for a year and worked as a GIS technician at Mississippi State University Wildlife Department on a research project concerned with the negative changes in bird populations in response to pine monoculture. In Wyoming, I had worked a wildlife consulting firm. In that position, our work entailed surveys of many bird species, including the ferruginous hawk Buteo regalis (nest photo above) and we dealt mainly with coal-bed methane industry representatives and landowners in Wyoming. I returned to Canada in 2004 to teach biology labs at St. Francis Xavier University. During those summers leading up to my move to New Zealand, I worked on a tern habitat restoration project (for the CWS) and conducted my own research in roseate tern Sterna dougallii parental care strategies.

I am particularly interested in questions involving evolutionary theory and their application to wildlife conservation and preservation of diversity. My current research falls under the umbrella of the Red Queen Hypothesis, an analogy coined from the Lewis Carroll story Through the Looking Glass to represent the relentless evolutionary arms race of host and parasite. As Lewis Carroll said, "in this place it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place". Disease resistance issues have become increasingly recognized as important aspects of New Zealand conservation and biosecurity and this study will provide baseline information on malaria infections in free-living birds, their health status, and their MHC (major histocompatibility complex) gene diversity. My study species is the New Zealand bellbird Anthornis melanura, a common and numerous endemic songbird. Again for further information on my PhD research, click on the link above.

RESEARCH

MHC allele and neutral microsatellite loci diversity associated with malaria prevalence in a non-migratory songbird.

The main objective of my proposed research is to study Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) alleles associated with malarial parasite Plasmodium and Haemoproteus sp. infections in four New Zealand bellbird Anthornis melanura populations. MHC genes play a fundamental role during immune response and recent studies have linked specific MHC alleles and MHC diversity to malaria resistance and susceptibility. One of my study populations was recently documented to have a malarial blood parasite prevalence of over 50 % and little is known about the other three populations.

Five main research questions comprise the structure of my thesis. First, I will test hypothesis on the temporal and geographic variation in malaria presence/parasitemia in bellbirds and how that correlates with individual body condition. Second, the number of MHC alleles in each population is expected to vary markedly. Also, MHC diversity might be either negatively or positively related to malaria prevalence depending on virulence. Third, neutral microsatellite loci will be used to better understand genetic distances among the bellbird populations and to standardize any MHC variation. The fourth and fifth sets of hypotheses are related to evolutionary theory. A natural experiment involving re-colonization of a mainland population from a retained island population presents the opportunity to study MHC adaptation versus genetic drift. Finally, instances of double infection in single hosts will permit hypotheses that test whether trade-offs in retention of antagonistic MHC alleles result from competitive interactions among malaria parasites.

For three years, blood will be collected from three bellbird populations in the Hauraki Gulf region, North Island at regular intervals (Tiritiri Matangi Island, Tawharanui Regional Park, and Little Barrier Island) and once from a fourth population, Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand.

This research will be conducted in conjunction with ongoing research on malarial infections in New Zealand avifauna by Dr. Dianne Brunton and Dr. Rosemary Barraclough at Massey University, Auckland. The genetics work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Allan Baker at the University of Toronto. The results of this PhD thesis will help further the understanding of disease susceptibility in wild endemic bird populations and of the complex evolutionary dynamics involving immunity to disease.

FUNDING BODIES

• NSERC Scholarship-PGS: 2008 - 2011
• Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Island: 2008
• INR Massey University: 2008 - 2010
• New Zealand Marsden Fund: 2007 - 2008
• Northern Studies Research Training Grants: 1997 - 1999
• CWS-NSERC: 1997 - 1999
• Memorial University Teaching Scholarship: 1997 - 1999
• Harcourt L. Cameron Award: 1991/92/93

PUBLICATION/ REPORTS

Toms B, Baillie SM, Boyne AW, Sims L, & McKnight J 2006. Country Island tern restoration project. Annual report - Year 8. Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Dartmouth, NS.

Baillie SM, Robertson G, Wiese FK & Williams UP 2005. Seabird data collected by the Grand Banks offshore hydrocarbon industry 1999-2002: Results, limitations and suggestions for improvement. Canadian Wildlife Service Technical Report Series No. 434, Atlantic Region 47 pp. |PDF, 265 KB|

Baillie SM, Wilkerson CD, & Newbury, T.L. 2004. "Ashkui", a vernal ice-cover phenomena and their ecological role. Canadian Field-Naturalist 118: 267-269. |PDF, 85 KB|

Baillie SM & Jones IL 2004. Response of Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica to a decline in capelin Mallotus villosus abundance at the Gannet Islands, Labrador in the late 1990s. Waterbirds 78(1): 102-111. |PDF, 1.6 MB|

Baillie SM & Jones IL 2003. Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica nestling diet and reproductive parameters at colonies with high and low capelin Mallotus villosus abundance in Newfoundland and Labrador. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81: 1598-1607. |PDF, 220 KB|

Baillie SM 2001. Atlantic puffin response to changes in capelin abundance in Newfoundland and Labrador: An inter-colony and inter-decade comparison. Unpublished MSc Thesis Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's NL.

Baillie SM 1994. Comparison of macro-invertebrate assemblages in the rockweed canopies of Fucus vesiculosis and Ascophylum nodosum, Graves Island, Nova Scotia. Unpublished BSc Thesis. Acadia University, Wolfville NS.

CONFERENCES ATTENDED

2007 - New Zealand Veterinarian Association Wildlife Society Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.
Baillie SM. Use of immunological techniques in studies on ecology.

2006 - 9th International Conference: Seabird Populations Under Pressure, Scotland, UK.
Gjerdrum C, Robertson, GJ, Baillie SM & Williams UP. Indices of seabird abundance and migration timing on the northeastern Grand Banks, Newfoundland.
|Poster (PDF, 4.1 MB)|

2000 - International Birds 2000 Conference, St. John's Newfoundland
Baillie SM & Jones IL. Atlantic puffin response to dramatic decline in capelin of Labrador.

1998 - ACWERN Annual meeting 1998, St. John's Newfoundland.
Baillie SM. Parental provisioning and breeding performance of Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica in response to changing capelin Mallotus villosus availability at the Gannet Islands during 1996 to 1998.

1995 - Northwest Atlantic Universities Graduate Conference 1995, Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
Baillie, S.M. Floating weir trap: a new technique for capture of Eider crèches.

CERTIFICATES

• Outdoor First Aid Certification, Auckland: 2007 - current.
• Wilderness and Remote First Aid Certification: 2005 - current.
• MED A-1 Advanced Marine Medical Aide certification: 2003 - current.
• Canadian Hunter Safety/Fire Arms Acquisition: 2000 - current.
• Valid Canadian Drivers' License - current.
• Canada Council on Animal Care certification, St. Francis Xavier Univ: 2006
• Banding Sub-Permit: seabirds, terns, gulls, corvids, endangered tern species :2005 - 2006.
• Banding Sub-Permit: passerines, near-passerines, ducks, seabirds and raptors: 1995 - 1999.
• Canada Council on Animal Care certification, MUN: 1997
• Top Candidate Award Basic Training/Medical Aide Training; Canadian Army Reserve: 1990 - 1994.

VOLUNTEER WORK

• 2007: Maud Island orange-fronted parakeet captive-animal release monitoring, Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
• 2004: Ecology class chaperone for Teton Science School fieldtrip, Rocky Mountains Wyoming, USA.
• 2003: Breeding forest bird banding; near-urban areas, NL, Canada.
• 2003: West Nile Disease project; crow necropsy, Department of Agriculture, NL, Canada.
• 2003: Pelagic seabird surveys, D.F.O. capelin cruise, NL, Canada.
• 2002: Canterbury Veterinary Clinic, Melbourne, Australia.
• 2002: Migratory passerine banding, Atlantic Bird Observatory, Canada
• 2001: Willing Worker on Organic Farms (WWOOF) for silk farm in Vang Vien, Laos.
• 2000: Migratory passerine banding, Mississippi, USA.
• 2000: Bob-white Quail covey counts, Oktibbeeha County, Mississippi, USA.
• 1999: Black-legged Kittiwake nest survey, Cape St. Mary's Bird Sanctuary, NL, Canada.
• 1999: Radio-tracking Pine Martens, Terra Nova National Park, NL, Canada.
• 1996-1997: Animal husbandry (large cats) Oaklawn Farm Zoo, Aylesford, NS, Canada.
• 1996: Western Pond Turtle Survey Assistant, Sierra Nevada Range, California, USA.
• 1995: Mist-netting, blood sampling, and feather collection from breeding songbirds, NS, Canada.
• 1994: Common and Arctic Tern nest/egg survey, Machias Seal Island,New Brunswick, Canada.
• 1993-present: Xmas bird counts and raptor surveys, Canada and USA.
• 1993-1996: Migratory passerine banding, Atlantic Bird Observatory, Canada

ACTIVITIES

• Southern Hemisphere International Scottish Fiddle School (2008)
• RUN Auckland Race Series, New Zealand (2007)
• Halifax Bluenose Half-marathon, Canada (2006)
• Bicycle tours: UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Laos (2002-2006)
• Triathlons: St. John's NL and YMCA NL, Canada; Gillette WY, USA (2003-2004)
• Avalon Raid Adventure race, Canada (2003)
• St. John's Orienteering Club member, Canada (2003)
• St. John's Kayak Club member, Canada (2003)
• President of Fletcher Geology Club, Acadia University, Canada (1991-1993)
• Chairperson of Atlantic Universities Geology Conference, Canada (1992)

Hobbies and interests:

My hobbies include outdoor sports as well as spending time with my lovely dog. Another worthy distraction (but perhaps not for listeners) is collecting and having fun attempting to 'play' musical instruments with other people, including the flute and fiddle. I love to travel and have spent some time in and around SE Asia with shorter bouts to Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala, India, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. I currently live in Auckland, New Zealand.