Contact Information:
- Name:
- Fontaine, Joseph (T.J.)
- Title:
- UofA Staff - Research Specialist, Principal
- Discipline(s):
- Behavioral Ecology, Life History Evolution
- Research Station:
- SDRS
- Work Address:
- 125 Biological Sciences East, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
- Telephone Number:
- (520) 623-3720; FAX: (520) 670-5001
- Email Address:
- fontaine.joseph@gmail.com
Biographical Sketch:
T.J. Fontaine's interest in biology began as a child chasing elk through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and catching fish along the tributaries of the Missouri River. Years of outdoor "delinquency" lead him to pursue a degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana. During that time he worked for The Nature Conservancy in Montana and North Dakota and conducted research with Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. After graduating in 1997, T.J. spent three years working for Tom Martin at the USGS Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, where he learned about the intricacies and challenges of conducting research in the field of evolutionary ecology, developed and proposed his own research questions, and became fundamentally involved in numerous research projects and scientific papers. Dr. Fontaine believes all of these experiences encouraged his development as a scientist and awoke in him a desire to not only conduct research, but to teach the importance of science to others as well.
To date, T.J. has studied avian ecology for more than ten years on three different continents, including research on breeding behaviors, life history evolution, and physiological mechanisms of trait expression. His research interests have focused on understanding ecological and evolutionary sources of trade-offs in life history traits, and the physiological mechanisms regulating those trade-offs. His dissertation work was on the influence of nest predation risk on the expression of behavioral and life history traits for a community of breeding birds, specifically examining how migratory birds assess risk to their offspring and alter their reproductive strategies. Drawing on an extensive theoretical and empirical history of studies in avian ecology, he tested previously unanswered questions about how birds assess their environment, choose among environments, and rear their offspring.
T.J. Fontaine's website
Project List
- Migration Patterns:
- Collaboration with Dr. Charles van Riper III to unravel the mysteries of avian migration. Using the Wilson's Warblers as a model species, they are examining patterns of migration using a diverse sweet of techniques, including radioisotopes, radar, and radio tracking. They hope that by discovering how Wilson's Warblers make their journey from their wintering grounds in Mexico to their breeding grounds in the northern U.S. and Canada, they can begin to understand the evolution of migration and identify habitats and corridors important to the conservation of neotropical migrant birds.
- Nest Predation Risk:
- Landscape level manipulation of nest predation risk to determine if birds assess risk in their environment and preferentially settle in safer environments (see Fontaine and Martin, 2006, American Naturalist, and if they alter their reproductive strategies in these safer environments (see Fontaine an Martin, 2006, Ecology Letters). In addition, he also tested whether circulating levels of corticosterone were correlated with the behavioral and life history shifts between treatments, and thus a possible physiological mechanism for the regulation of these traits.
- Ecological and Evolutionary Comparisons of North Temperate and South Temperate Birds:
- Collaboration with other researchers to test long-standing ecological and evolutionary questions concerning differences between north temperate birds and their tropical and south temperate counterparts (see Martin et al., 2000, Science) as well as underlying patterns of avian ecology and evolution (see Martin et al, 2006, Evolution).
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