Person

I´m a cognitive zoologist. I have a broad interest in avian behaviour and cognition, especially about how individuals navigate into their physical and social worlds and are shaped by them. Topics such as learning, problem solving, tool use, personality and social organisations are particularly appealing to me. I mostly use comparative methods to highlight differences and similarities between closely related species, in order to better understand the evolution of their cognition.

During my PhD in the Cognitive Zoology group, I will work on the dinosaur cognition project. Our aim is to reconstruct the cognition of extinct, non-avian dinosaurs by studying the cognition and brain structure of their archosaurian relatives, the crocodilians and paleognathous birds.

I will focus on the evolution of executive functions, like inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, by studying the cognition of American alligators and various birds, such as emus, rheas, tinamous and common ravens.