Research Interests

• Population genetics of birds
• Molecular evolution of microsatellite DNA
• Mating systems in birds
• The function of bird song
• Seabird and marsh bird conservation

Current Research Projects

• Mating system of the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (collaboration with Chris Elphick, University of Connecticut)
• Development of microsatellite DNA markers in Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows (With Travis Glenn, SREL)
• Population Genetics of Seaside Sparrows
• For details on these and other projects, and opportunities to get involved, click here.
• For a slideshow (by student Katie Copenhaver) of a morning of fieldwork, click here.

Other

• Listowner for Microsat-L, e-mail discussion group for microsatellite DNA

Teaching Interests

Ornithology, Biology 461 & 461L

Course Web Page

Molecular Techniques in Biology, Biology 451

Course Web Page

Biological Science I, Biology 121

Course Web Page

Biological Science II, Biology 122

Course Web Page

I also have taught Animal Behavior, Principles of Ecology Laboratories, and contributed to graduate core courses in the Masters Program Coastal, Marine and Wetland Systems.

Publications

• Hill CE, Copenhaver KA, Gangler RK, Whaley JA (2005) Does light intensity influence song output by Northern Mockingbirds? Chat 69: 61-67. Click for .pdf
• Hill CE and Post W (2005) Extra-pair paternity in Seaside Sparrows. Journal of Field Ornithology 76: 119-126. Click for .pdf
• Chan YL, Hill CE, Maldonado JE & Fleischer RC (in press) Evolution and conservation of tidal marsh vertebrates: molecular approaches. Studies in Avian Biology
• Crowe MC and Hill CE (in press) Setting the stage for good group dynamics in semester-long projects in the Sciences. Journal of College Science Teaching.
• Hoekstra HE, Hoekstra JM, Berrigan DM, Hoang A, Vigneri SN, Hill CE, Beerli P & Kingsolver JG (2001) Strength and tempo of directional selection in the wild. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA 98: 9157-9160.  Click for .pdf
• Kingsolver JG, Hoekstra HE, Hoekstra JM, Berrigan D, Vigneri SN, Hill CE, Hoang A, Gilbert P & Beerli P (2001) The strength of phenotypic selection in natural populations. American Naturalist 157: 245-261  .pdf
• Hess CM, Gasper J, Hoekstra HE, Hill C , and Edwards SV, 2000. MHC Class II Pseudogene and Genomic Signature of a 32-kb Cosmid in the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus ). Genome Research 10: 613-623  .pdf
• Beecher MD, Campbell SE, Burt JM, Hill CE, Nordby JC, 2000. Song type matching between neighboring song sparrows. Animal Behaviour 59:21-27.  .pdf
• Hill CE, Campbell SE, Nordby JC, Burt JM, Beecher MD, 1999. Song sharing in two populations of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 46:341-349.  .pdf
• Kroodsma DE, Byers BE, Halkin SL, Hill C , Minis D, Bolsinger JR, Dawson J-A, Donelan E, Farrington J, Gill F, Houlihan P, Innes D, Keller G, Macaulay L, Marantz CA, Ortiz J, Stoddard PK, Wilda K, 1999. Geographic variation of black-capped chickadee songs and singing behavior in North America. Auk 116:387-402.  
• Beecher MD, Nordby JC, Campbell SE, Burt JM, Hill CE , O'Loghlen AL, 1997. What is the function of song learning in songbirds? In: Perspectives in Ethology, Vol. 12: Communication (Owings DH, Beecher MD, Thompson NS, eds). New York: Plenum Press; 77-97.
• Milling TC, Rowe MP, Cockerel BL, Dellinger TA, Gailes JB & Hill CE. 1997. Population densities of northern saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) in degraded boreal forests of the southern Appalachians. In: JR Duncan, DH Johnson and TH Nicholls, Eds. Biology and Conservation of Owls of the Northern Hemisphere. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station. General Technical Report NC-190.Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada pp. 272-285

More about me

I grew up mostly in a suburb outside New York City: New Rochelle, N.Y.  I went to college at Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts, graduating in 1987.  I returned to graduate school in 1992, got a M.S. in Biology from Eastern Kentucky University, where I was lucky to work with Gary Ritchison studying Saw-whet Owl vocal behavior. I then went to the University of Washington, where I got a Ph.D. in Zoology, focusing on Song Sparrow singing and mating behavior under Michael Beecher, and working with a great bunch of people in the Beecher Bird Lab.  The generous spirit of Scott Edwards in Zoology and the people at the MMBL in Fisheries allowed me to learn and apply molecular techniques for paternity testing. In Kentucky I met my wife Amy, and after five years in Washington, we moved back east to Conway, SC when I was offered a job at Coastal Carolina University.  And here we still are.

Curriculum vitae

Hobbies

Links

(page updated August 2005)