Adam F. Parlin, Ph.D.
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ABOUT ME I am a broadly trained comparative and ecological physiologist.
The overarching goal of my research is to understand the functional adaptations of organisms to their environment by characterizing how individuals respond to environmental stressors and identifying the underlying mechanisms of short-term and long-term physiological adaptation related to habitat use. My research focuses on exploring animal-habitat interactions through a combination of laboratory experiments, field monitoring, and computer modelling. |
Recent Work
Secret Life of Squirrels: Tracking with LoRa
Tracking squirrels is quite the handful - let alone capturing and collaring. Traditional methods have used VHF (very high frequency) transmitters to triangulate locations based on a cartesian coordinate and bearing.
Recent advances in data transmission technology (LoRa, or Long Range) allow for obtaining data from individuals anywhere between 3-7km from a gateway based on line-of-sight. Any type of sensor data can be transmitted, so the questions we can ask are near endless. However, as with any technology, battery life is always of concern... Check out the data that has been collected on black and grey squirrels in the ShinyApp! |
Building Biologging Devices
Technology is rapidly advancing, and this can be exciting but also nerve-wracking. Recent advances in DIY (do-it-yourself) with Arduino make it possible to take ownership of devices used to monitor wildlife. This includes tracking wildlife, such as this LoRa GNSS tracker, to monitoring environmental conditions at a micrometerological scale. Many companies sell inexpensive breakout boards that with learning how to use these sensors, which facilitates the learning curve. Check out the technology page where I elaborate more on this! |
Monarch Migration: Lab to Field to Model
Migration is an energetically taxing ecological and physiological phenomenon.
Monarch butterflies, a multi-generational migrant, offer a unique opportunity to investigate how individuals manage to orient and navigate to an overwintering location they have never been to before. Although tracking technology is getting smaller, there are several hurdles for collecting data from tagged individuals. Check out the project page for more details on this lab to field to modelling study system. |