Sonny S Bleicher

Summary

I am an evolutionary ecologist and environmental scientist based out of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who specializes in the use of behavioral assays for spatial analysis of habitat use and quantification of the perception of risk and competition between species.

My main focus of research has been predator prey interactions in a convergent evolution context. I have been pursuing the question: what makes an "effective"​ invasive species evolutionarily? I approach this by studying the response of model invaded communities to the presence of novel predators. I have used "common-garden"​ experiments and used Bayesian models, deductive statistics and spatial analysis of the distribution of risk, called "landscapes of fear" analysis.

Recently, I explored the behavioral dynamics of dasyruid marsupials in the Simpson Desert under conditions of a population bust, a prolonged drought, and a wild fire.

Animal Behavior Biodiversity Conservation Biology Environmental Sciences Evolutionary Studies Zoology

Institution affiliations