B.S., University of Portland
Ph.D., University of Washington

Alex Coverdill teaches in the Core Nature Sciences, CC105 and CC106. His background and research interests are focused on the natural history and physiology of migratory birds, having received his doctorate in zoology and teaching courses in physiology and ornithology at the University of Washington. His dissertation research focused on the spring migration life history stage in three races of captive white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys). His work has shown that the expression of migratory activity and behaviors by captive birds is directly correlated with migration distances traveled by free-living individuals.

Alex is currently researching potential differences in metabolic hormone expression in migratory and resident populations of snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) in Iceland. His main question is whether birds traveling significant migratory distances to and from breeding territories each year will differ in corticosterone concentrations when compared to birds residing in Iceland year-round. Now having relocated to Boston, Alex is excited to witness the dramatic changes in seasonal avian diversity that are characteristic of life in New England.