Research in my lab focuses on the sensory biology of songbird acoustic communication. I am interested in understanding the relationship between the production and perception of communication signals in the context of their mechanism, development, function, and evolution. We take an integrative approach that draws on methods from behavioral ecology, comparative psychology, neurophysiology, and evolutionary biology to investigate fundamental questions in animal communication. How do animals encode information in the signals they produce? How do they extract information from such signals perceptually? How do these processes function in “noisy” natural habitats? And, ultimately, what factors shape the evolution of such processes? Understanding the interdependencies of signalers, channels, and receivers is essential for knowing how a biological signal functions in its natural context.
Mark Shepard is an assistant professor at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research studies health care markets, with topics at the intersection of health, industrial organization, and public economics. Much of his work focuses on competition and policy design in health insurance markets, particularly in public programs like the Massachusetts/ACA health insurance exchanges and Medicaid managed care. Mark received his PhD in economics from Harvard University (2015) and his A.B. in applied math from Harvard (2008). He was a Post-doctoral Fellow (in Aging and Health Economics) at the NBER during the 2015-16 academic year before starting as an assistant professor in 2016-17. Before graduate school, Mark spent a year working at the Brookings Institution's Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform (2008-09).
Win Myo Thu is a development practitioner with over 30 year’s working experience extensively in environmental conservation and rural development. He professionally contributed to several policy developments such as the national communication report on climate change, national biodiversity strategic action plan (NBSAP), national environmental performance assessment, national rural development strategic framework for poverty reduction, and Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP). In addition to these contributions, he has been actively advocating for the cancellation of hydropower mega-dams, promoting renewable energy, improving land tenure security of the poor and indigenous people, and strengthening a common platform for civic empowerment in the process of natural resource governance. He directs a local environmental organization, the Association of Advancing Life and Regenerating Motherland (ALARM) and is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at Christ Church College. Qualifications He studied at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand for M.Sc in Rural and Regional Development with the background of undergraduate study in B.Sc(Forestry) from Yangon University and Yezin Agriculture Institute of Myanmar. He also pursued the Chevening Fellowship in Governance and Environmental Democracy at the Center for International Development and Training of the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom. Academic Background He studied at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand for M.Sc in Rural and Regional Development with the background of undergraduate study in B.Sc(Forestry) from Yangon University and Yezin Agriculture Institute of Myanmar. He also pursued the Chevening Fellowship in Governance and Environmental Democracy at the Center for International Development and Training of the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom. Research Interests He is currently conducting a research study on the assessment of climate risk by severe drought and water insecurity in the central dry zone of Myanmar and its impacts on local livelihoods and political economy. Publications Luke Bridgestock, Gideon M. Henderson, Phil Holdship, Aung Myo Khaing, Tin Tin Naing, Tin Aung Myint, Wint Wint Htun, Win Khant, Win Myo Thu, Mo Aung Nay Chi, Jotautas Baronas, Edward Tipper, Hazel Chapman & Mike Bickle (2022), Dissolved trace element concentrations and fluxes in the Irrawaddy, Salween, Sittaung and Kaladan Rivers. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361399200_Dissolved_trace_eleme... [accessed Jul 22 2022]. Win Myo Thu (2019). Deforestation Dilemma in Myanmar, In University of Nottingham, Asia Dialogue Blog, https://theasiadialogue.com/2019/09/30/the-deforestation-dilemma-in-myan... Oliver Springate-Baginski, Aung Kyaw Thein, Anthony Neil, Win Myo Thu, Faith Doherty (2014), An assessment of Myanmar's emerging ‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade’ (FLEGT) process, Forest Policy and Economics (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2014.09.004 Win Myo Thu (2012), Impact of cross-border road construction on the livelihoods of women and men in Kyaing Ton – Tachileik, Myanmar, In Kusakabe Kyoko (ed.) Gender, Road and Mobility in Asia, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby: Practical Action Publishing 2012 ISBN: 978 85339 734 9, 225 pp ADB (2007), Myanmar National Environmental Performance Assessment: Asian Development Bank - National report of Greater Mekong Sub-regional Core Environmental Program, https://www.gms-eoc.org/resources/myanmar-epa-report @chchoxford @ChCh_Oxford christchurchoxford
Oliver’s primary research interest is the political economy / political ecology of forest governance reform in developing countries. He mainly focuses on issues of: 1) democratisation, policy and reform rights reform and the associated political empowerment of forest users, 2) livelihood development and poverty alleviation at the forest – agricultural interface, and 3) integrated biodiversity management in forest management. These interests have been developed through leading a range of research projects with partners across Asia region, particularly India, Nepal and Burma/Myanmar. He is co-author/editor, with Piers Blaikie, of ‘Forests, People and Power’ (Earthscan 2007). Oliver has also worked as a forest and environmental policy advisor on donor-funded projects in India and currently Burma / Myanmar. Oliver is the coordinator of the Burma/ Myanmar Development Research Network.
Alice Masterson is a Visiting Lecturer in Music at the University of York and Fordham London. Her research interests include posthumous fame; the singing voice and its ascribed meanings; audience perception of ‘authenticity’; and women's experiences in music. Her doctoral thesis explored the posthumous legacies of female musicians who were vilified for their lifestyles while living, particularly the ways in which they seem to find public ‘redemption’ through death.
Liam Maloney is an Associate Lecturer in Music and Sound Recording in the Music Research Centre at the University of York (UK). His research explores the intersection of dance music history, race, and sexuality as lenses to explain the socio-musicological components of house music and LGBTQ history. His other interests concern the politics of sampling, the history of music listening in everyday life, and DJ record collections.
