Genevieve Spanjer Wright Graduate Student Auditory Neurethology Laboratory University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Contact  Information Degrees,  Positions Research Interests Publicaitons

Contact Information

E-mail:       gspanjer@umd.edu
Telephone:   301-405-0374 (batlab)

Degrees, Positions

BS, Biology	Berry College	1998-2002
MSc, Biology	York University	2002-2004
Graduate Student, Biology	University of Maryland	2005-present

Research Interests

My broad areas of interests are animal behavior, ecology, and conservation biology. I conducted my undergraduate thesis on the relationship between water chemistry and presence of cave-obligate crayfish in the southeastern US. My Master's research focused on behavioral responses of bats to gates placed at cave and mine entrances at sites from Ontario to Tennessee. My primary research interests include behavioral ecology, social behavior, vocal communication, mammalogy, cave biology, and conservation.

Currently, I am currently designing a study to investigate the use of social learning by bats, circumstances under which animals will choose social versus individual learning, and whether vocal communication might play a role in bat social learning. I am also working on a study analyzing social calls made when multiple bats are flying together in the presence of a single prey item, and on a project investigating potential acoustic deterrents that could protect bats from wind turbine blades.

Publications

• Genevieve Spanjer Wright, Gerald S. Wilkinson, Cynthia F. Moss, Social learning of a novel foraging task by big brown bats, Eptesicus fuscus. Animal Behaviour (2011), doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.07.044
• Wright, Genevieve Spanjer. 2009. Hipposideros caffer. Mammalian Species 845: 1-9
  
• Spanjer, Genevieve R., and Martin Cipollini. 2006. Relationship between physiochemical factors and distribution of stygobitic crayfishes in southeastern US caves. Southeastern Naturalist 5(1): 17-26.
  
• Spanjer, Genevieve R., and M. Brock Fenton. 2005. Behavior al Responses of Bats to Gates at Caves and Mines. Wildlife Society Bulletin 33 (3): 1101-1112.
  
• Ratcliffe, John M., Hannah M. ter Hofstede, Rafa Avila-Flores, M. Brock Fenton, Gary F. McCracken, Stefania Biscardi, Jennifer Blasko, Erin Gillam, Jazmine Orprecio, and Genevieve Spanjer. 2004. Conspecifics influence call design in the Brazilian free-tailed bat, Tadarida brasiliensis. Canadian Journal of Zoology 82(6): 966-971.
  
• Spanjer, Genevieve R. 2004. How do bats react to cave gates? National Speleological Society (NSS) News 62(10): 285.