Research
The lab's overarching scientific aim is to understand how the environment shapes individuals and structures populations and communities. We strive to address fundamental and applied questions regarding this aim using an integrative approach that spans molecular mechanisms to ecological interactions and incorporates natural systems and experimental methods.
An integrative understanding of how light structures ecosystems to individuals
Light cycles are a pervasive factor on Earth that impose predictable exposure to selective pressures. We aim to understand how these light cycles affect ecological interactions and influence physiology and behavior using a variety of methods, from biologging to molecular assays. We additionally strive to elucidate whether individuals from subpolar latitude are challenged by the polar light environment.
Huffeldt et al. 2024, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
Huffeldt et al. 2021, Hormones and Behavior
Huffeldt 2020, Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Biological rhythms at polar latitudes
Polar environments have a distinct light environment with an annual cycle from polar winter when the sun remains below the horizon to polar summer when the sun does not set. Animals have a variety of solutions to survive under these light conditions, from arrhythmicity to 24-h rhythms. My group aims to understand this diversity in rhythmicity by investigating its causes and consequences across biological scales. We additionally want to understand the ecological importance and adaptive value of biological rhythms and the role of these rhythms in a rapidly changing world.
Huffeldt et al. 2025, Journal of Avian Biology
Huffeldt et al. 2024, Animal Behaviour
van Beest et al. 2020, Royal Society Open Science
Huffeldt & Merkel 2016, Biology Letters
Avian biology research
Although most lab members do not consider themselves strictly ornithologists and we will use other taxa that help address our aims, we all find birds intriguing. Studying their life-histories and associated traits provides insight into novel processes that allow individuals to live in almost every habitat. Birds can transfer nutrients, pathogens, and pollutants across, sometimes, vast distances and be integral players in ecosystem dynamics. We lead projects and collaborate with colleagues to understand the ecology and health of primarily Arctic birds and how they influence ecosystems.
We combine spatial techniques with established field methods and population modeling to understand the behavior, physiology, and life-history of birds. We use our general interest in avian biology to develop protocols using time-lapse photography, bird-borne and passive data-loggers, and molecular methods. We use these methods to understand the individual behavior and ecology of birds locally and across the annual cycle. We also strive to elucidate the interaction between birds, humans, and the environment at different scales.
Representative articles
Patterson et al. 2022, Current Biology
Clairbaux et al. 2021, Current Biology
Davies et al. 2021, Conservation Letters
Albert et al. 2021, Science of the Total Environment
Frederiksen et al. 2021, Marine Ecology Progress Series
Merkel et al. 2021, Canadian Journal of Zoology
Linnebjerg et al. 2014, Journal of Ornithology
Huffeldt & Merkel 2013, Waterbirds
Terrestrial bird monitoring
The lab runs the South Greenland Raptor Program. We monitor peregrine falcon territories annually to continue the more than 40 years of effort by Drs. Knud Falk and Søren Møller. We additionally conduct research on the white-tailed eagle in South Greenland. Our aim is to understanding the population dynamics, movement, and health of these raptors as anthropogenic influences shape their ecology.
The lab is establishing, with Dr. Haley L. Kenyon, a nestbox population of snow buntings around Nuuk as an education, research, and monitoring platform. More information to come as we start to plan the deployment of nestboxes in 2027.
We collaborate with Dr. Mathilde Le Moullec to monitor terrestrial and aquatic birds in the West Greenland National Park north of Kangerlussuaq. We participate in and support the annual efforts to understand the broader terrestrial ecosystem and how avian populations change over time.
