Faculty & Staff Directory

Education

• Ph.D., University of Louisville, 2007
• M.S., University of Louisville, 2002
• B.S., Loyola University of Chicago, 1999

Areas of Specialization

Behavioral Ecology, Foraging, Animal Communication, Ornithology, Tropical Ecology, Primatology

 

Natasha is a biologist, educator and avid birder who enjoys sharing her passion for the natural world with her students and the Jacksonville community.  She is a broadly trained biologists with specialization in ecology, evolution, animal behavior and ornithology.  She began her career chasing primates through the jungles of Suriname, where she fell in love with tropical biology.  Her graduate research focused on the foraging and vocal behavior of the American Robin and she is an author of the Birds of North America species account on the robin.  She taught two years at Francis Marion University in South Carolina before coming to Jacksonville University in 2009.  Her current research includes projects in North and South America.  She continues to work with colleagues from the Carolina’s on the ecology of the margay, a near-threatened neotropical cat, at Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary in Ecuador.  Back home in the states her research focuses on how humans affect animal behavior, including projects on seed dispersal and anthropogenic sound pollution.

Natasha earned a BS in Biology from Loyola University of Chicago, minoring in Anthropology.  She received a MS in Biology, as well as a PhD in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior from the University of Louisville in 2007.  She is the chair of Jacksonville University’s Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee and is a founding organizer of Science on Tap-Jacksonville.