I am interested in how animals deal with extreme fluctuations in environmental conditions. Red crossbills are irruptive nomads that move in respone to sudden and unpredictable changes in their food supply. They are extremely plastic in their reproductive and migratory physiology, and I am currently interested in better understanding the phsyiological mechanisms (of the endocrine variety) that underly this ability. I use an integrated field and laboratory approach to study the relationships between reproduction, molt, migration, and food supply.

• Hahn, T.P., Cornelius, J.M., Sewall, K.B., Kelsey T.R., Hau, M., and N. Perfito. 2008. Environmental regulation of annual schedules in opportunistically-breeding songbirds: Adaptive specializations or variations on a theme of white-crowned sparrow? General and Comparative Endocrinology (in press).
• Breuner, C.W., Lynn, S.E, Julian, G.E., Cornelius, J.M., Heidinger, B.J., Love, O.P., Sprague, R.S., Wada, H., and Whiman, B.A. 2006 Plasma-binding globulins and the acute stress response. Hormone and Metabolic Research 38: 260-268.