The Project Phoebe Team
Current Graduate Project Leads
Sage Madden
Sage (she/they) is a fourth year Ecology PhD student in the Patricelli lab at the University of California Davis. She is pursuing her PhD to study the behavioral and physiological responses of animals to human-induced environmental change, including urbanization and climate change, and whether these responses are adaptive. Our urban jungle presents a range of challenges for the animals who live alongside us, and Sage is fascinated by how animals change to cope with those challenges.
One thing that Sage loves about studying urban birds is that it gives her lots of opportunities to talk to members of the community about research, ecology in general, and birds.
In her free time, Sage loves to read science fiction, hike, bake, and cook.

Jacob Johnson
Jacob (he/him) is an Animal Behavior PhD student in the Hahn lab at UC Davis. He is interested in studying how animals use different behavioral strategies to cope with unusual and/or harsh environments. His research projects feature work in cityscapes with Black Phoebes, wildfire-affected areas with Dark-eyed Juncos, and in the lab with Wolf Spiders and Carpenter Bees.
Jacob is fascinated by how animals handle environmental change, and believes that cities are one of the best places to see this in action. Because cities are so “new” to animals, they let researchers focus on how behavioral flexibility impacts the ability of animals to survive and reproduce. He is especially curious if the same environmental changes that cause new species to form elsewhere, like on islands, might also be affecting animals in cities as well.
He is an active science communicator, serving as a contributor and editor on the science communication site The Ethogram, writing pop science books, and composing educational music about topics in biology. He also moonlights as a jazz saxophonist in his free time.

Monica N. Sandri
Monica (she/her) is currently a Master’s student in Geography at UC Davis studying human-elephant interactions and elephant individual differences in the Hart Lab. Her work over the past 10 years since undergrad has ranged from aviculture of endangered birds in Maui to captive animal welfare and research of free-ranging elephant behavioral ecology. On Project Phoebe, she will be evaluating behavioral reaction norms in adult phoebes across urbanization and temperature gradients.
More broadly, Monica is interested in exploring questions in the field of conservation behavior and improving our understanding of how and why free-living animals respond to anthropogenic change. Her main goals are to inform conservation practice; improve human-wildlife coexistence; and develop collaborative, mutually beneficial relationships between scientists, students, and communities in the places she works. She is also a passionate STEM educator, mentor, and community scientist.
In her free time, Monica enjoys cooking vegetarian dishes, gardening, and walking her St. Bernard-Great Pyrenees dog named Moose. She is known for being the “mom” of her friend group and loves to travel, scuba dive, and attend sports games and fine art performances in her spare time. Most importantly, she loves to laugh!

Former Graduate Project Leads
Ian Ramshorn Haliburton
Ian (he/they) graduated with an MS in Animal Behavior. As an MS student, he worked in the labs of Tom Hahn and Gail Patricelli. He is interested in the role of behavior in animals’ responses to anthropogenic change and hopes that any research he does may have some implications for the conservation of wild birds and the protection of sensitive habitats. Out of the many challenges that coexisting with humans presents, Ian was drawn towards studying chemical pollution, and he was excited to find creative ways to bridge the fields of ecotoxicology and behavioral ecology, including while working with Project Phoebe!
On the personal side of things, Ian is very much a natural history nerd, and he tries to spend as much time outside as he possibly can. He loves birding (no surprise!), botanizing, hiking, surfing (although this hobby has been a casualty of moving from the coast to the Sacramento valley), and many other active activities. Ian’s other passions include illustrating (the Project Phoebe logo is an example of his work!), playing the piano and spending time with his two budgies, Bunji and Cooee.

Current Team Members
Aidan Reynolds
Aidan (he/him) is a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology undergraduate student in the Patricelli lab at UC Davis.
Aidan is fascinated by wildlife communication and strives to better understand how this vital behavior is impacted by environmental and evolutionary pressures. He is currently carrying out an independent project involving Black Phoebe vocalizations and how they vary across an urbanization gradient in response to noise pollution.
He enjoys listening to punk music, playing with his cats Zucchini and Goob, and traveling with his girlfriend. Aidan has always loved going to zoos, aquariums, and just about anywhere one could see a critter. He treasures the outdoors and spends a substantial amount of his free time hiking, biking, and exploring national and state parks. Aidan’s time with Project Phoebe has exploded his interests in bird behavior and diversity. You can often find him birdwatching as he strives to become the best birder this side of the Mississippi.

Alia Tu
Alia (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UC Davis, majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology. This is her second field season with Project Phoebe, and she is particularly excited to get more data for her sub-project on the consequences of urbanization and human disturbance on Phoebe reproductive success. Additionally, Alia is passionate about education and is looking forward to opportunities to share the wonders of wild and urban birds with the community, while exploring ways that birds and humans can coexist in an increasingly urbanized world.
Alia is a long-time bird and nature lover and especially enjoys hiking and taking the time to observe animal behavior and the surrounding environment. As an avid artist, she often can be spotted with a sketchbook in hand, trying to capture the likes of a bird, or mushroom, or tree. She also occasionally plays bass guitar and alto saxophone in her free time.

Aziza Carrillo
Aziza (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology with a minor in Avian Sciences at UC Davis. Her passions have always revolved around avian ecology and conservation biology, and she is excited to participate in field research of wild birds. She is currently carrying out her third year of her ongoing independent project focusing on how Black Phoebe bill morphology is impacted by increased urbanization and the associated higher temperatures. This year, she will be less active in the field and instead focus on other aspects of her project.
Aziza is an avid birder and enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and photographing wildlife. She also enjoys playing the flute, reading, writing, and watching science fiction. She has two green-cheeked conures, Peanut and Pickle.

Clay Jones
Clay (they/them) is a first year Animal Behavior PhD student in the Patricelli Lab at UC Davis. Their primary research interests are in communication, social information use, and social network dynamics among group-living animals. They are especially curious about how animals share and use social information about changing environmental conditions, potentially due to rapid anthropogenic change. While they figure out the research question and study system for their own dissertation, Clay is helping the Project Phoebe team with field data collection, nest monitoring, and analyses of phoebe vocalizations. Before coming to UC Davis, Clay studied Carolina Chickadees vocalizations at food sources during a Master’s degree at Villanova University, and before that, Clay studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Linguistics, and French as an undergraduate at Cornell University. Their passion for linguistics and learning new languages has worked hand-in-hand with their curiosity about animal communication systems; they just want to know how all people and animals talk to each other!
In their free time, Clay loves to run long distances, rock climb, and generally spend as much time outdoors as possible. Clay also loves cooking vegetarian food and spending time with their pet budgies and starling!

Jih-Heng Huang
Jih-Heng Huang (he/him) is a fourth year of the ecology, evolution, and biodiversity undergraduate. As a long-time wildlife enthusiast, he has been interested in ecology, inter-species interaction, natural history and wildlife conservation. He joined the phoebe project in January 2024 as a video analysis volunteer.
He commonly goes into the wild to look for different species of birds, mammals, herpes and insects. He has roughly three years of birdwatching experience and was also an intern of the Putah Creek Nest Box project.
In his free time, he also likes to enjoy watching some sports and learning about various topics including history and global issues.

Joana Rose
Jo (she/they) recently graduated with a Bachelor’s in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at UC Davis. She is interested in the overlap between wildlife conservation, climate change, and making science accessible for local communities of all ages and demographics. She has previously worked on the Putah Creek Nestbox Project and as a resource technician in the Indiana Dunes. In her free time, she likes to go to concerts, watch movies, and spend time with her two cats, Stevie and Bug.

Jyotsna Jha
Jyotsna Jha (she/her) is a second year undergraduate at UC Davis double majoring in Neurobiology, Physiology, & Behavior and Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology. She is particularly fascinated by the ways in which physiological processes shape avian behavior and health. She is currently developing an independent project studying how different physiological measures of stress in black phoebes relate to one another.
When she’s not working with Project Phoebe, Jyotsna also plays violin for UC Davis’s Video Game Orchestra and works as a campus tour guide. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, and creative writing.

Haley Van Sloten
Haley (she/her) is a first year Wildlife, fish, and Conservation Biology major, with a minor in Avian Sciences. She’s always adored working with animals, whether that involve pets, livestock, or wildlife, and is currently pursuing a career in wildlife research and conservation. After her previous experience rehabilitating wild birds and mammals, she jumped at the moment to be able to gain experience working on the field, rather than in a wildlife rescue. She’s developing her own independent research studying the effects of human activity levels on food delivery and reproductive success.
During her free time, she loves binge-watching tv shows, playing video games with her friends, and playing with legos and puzzles to relax her mind. Along with these activities, she also enjoys spending time outdoors by going on walks and has recently gotten into wildlife photography.

Lee Howell
Lee (any/all) is a third-year undergraduate in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology with a passion for wild birds – working directly with them, learning about their ecology and behavior, watching & photographing them, and educating others about their biodiversity & conservation needs. Lee is from Chicago, which has given them a special interest in avian ecology in urban environments. They are also generally interested in songbirds and raptors; in addition to volunteering as a field tech and photographer with Project Phoebe, they have worked on the Putah Creek Nestbox Highway, and currently volunteer at the California Raptor Center. When they aren’t actively thinking about birds, they enjoy writing, hiking, travel, and a variety of crafts.

Siiri Hamberg
Siiri (she/her) is a second-year undergraduate majoring in Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity at UC Davis. She came to Davis from South Carolina to follow her passion for nature and science and to pursue a career in research. Her current research with Project Phoebe examines the effects of urbanization on parasite abundance and the influences of parasitic infection on bird health. In her free time, Siiri loves to create art, watch horror movies, and both write and read science fiction. She also enjoys distance running in the beautiful California weather!

Former Undergraduate Team Members
Farah Mustafa
Farah (she/her) was a second-year Wildlife and Fish Conservation Biology major during her time with Project Phoebe, interested in a career working with birds and small mammals as a conservationist and wildlife researcher. She is a hiker and explorer, an avid reader, and a volunteer at the Foley Lab as well, where she works with with Amargosa voles. She is excited for her first fieldwork position with Project Phoebe, and is looking forward to working with the team.

Finn Velisaris
Finn (he/him) was a third year undergraduate student majoring in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at UC Davis during his time with Project Phoebe. He is interested in a career that works with conservation in wild birds, and is soon planning to pursue graduate studies in avian (or bird) behavior.
In his free time, Finn enjoys going outside and birdwatching, as well as gaming, and going to the gym. He also works at the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology on campus and enjoys spending his time preparing animals and working alongside his coworkers there.

Parker Milligan
Parker (he/him) was a third year student studying Evolution, Ecology, and Wildlife Conservation Biology during his Time with Project Phoebe. His passions include animal behavior, captive animal welfare, and science education. Project Phoebe has sparked a strong interest in the impacts of urbanization on wildlife behavior. Outside of being a video analyst for Project Phoebe, Parker is a physics tutor for the university and an assistant primate keeper at the Sacramento Zoo. In his free time, Parker participates in community theatre, practices wildlife photography, and spoils his cats, Domino and Mochi. He plans to pursue graduate degrees in Animal Behavior, contributing to future research and collegiate education.
