Feathered Oscillators: Reproductive Synchrony in Seabirds

Jim Hayward & Shandelle Henson
Thursday, July 17th 7pm NHE

Jim & Shandelle will provide a brief overview of Protection Island, its wildlife, and recent research on the island. This will be followed by a description of an ongoing research project demonstrating the very unusual discovery that Glaucous-winged gulls tend to lay their eggs synchronously on an every-other-day schedule. 

Jim Hayward is a research professor of biology at Andrews University, Michigan. Jim has studied Washington’s seabirds since he began graduate studies in 1972 and has been researching the fauna and flora of Protection Island since 1987. He earned a masters degree in biology from Andrews University and a Ph.D. in zoology from Washington State University.

Shandelle Henson is a professor of mathematics at Andrews University and is trained as a mathematical ecologist. Before she began studying the Protection Island ecosystem with her husband, Jim, she was a member of the so-called “Beetle Team”, well known among ecologists for the first demonstration of “chaos” in an ecological system. Shandelle earned a masters degree in mathematics from Duke University and a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Tennessee.

Both Jim and Shandelle are widely published in both the technical and popular literature, and both have won awards for their teaching. They live in Michigan for nine months of the year, and during the remaining three months enjoy the incredible beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Their research is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Admission: Non-members $7; members $5