| BELOIT COLLEGE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT |
| Ken
Yasukawa |
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I am a behavioral ecologist, meaning that I study the way that an animal's behavior affects its interactions with the environment, and my research focuses on the reproductive behavior and ecology of birds, especially the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). I am also a field biologist because I study birds in the wild, primarily at the Newark Road Prairie, which is about 8 miles from the Beloit College campus.
As a member of the Biology Department, I teach many courses that are related to my research interests.
As a professional biologist, I have held several positions.
My Positions held Include:Post-doctoral
Fellow, The Rockefeller University, Field Research Center, 1977-1980
Assistant Professor, Beloit College, Department of Biology, 1980-1986
Associate Professor, Beloit College, Department of Biology, 1986-1990
Professor, Beloit College, Department of Biology, 1990-present
Visiting Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Zoology,
1991-present
Editor, Journal of Field Ornithology, 1990-1995
President,
Animal Behavior Society, 2004
My research interests include:
I have studied
the behavior and ecology of Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)
since 1973. My research has focused on the territorial behavior, mate choice,
communication, and parental behavior of free-living redwings. Since 1981 and
with the help of over 50 undergraduate assistants, I have studied a population
of Red-winged Blackbirds at Newark Road Prairie in south-central Wisconsin.
Our fieldwork has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation,
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Click here
for information about my research grant support.
In 1999 Nicole Burton ('01, Biochemistry), Jody Urish ('00, Ecology, Evolution,
and Behavioral Biology) and I studied male anti-predator signaling and nestling
begging calls. I contiued these studies with Amanda Sanders ('01), and Geni
Werner ('04) who studied anti-predator signaling in 2000 and 2001, and with
Al Her ('02), who studied nesting begging calls in 2001.
Many of the research projects that I have conducted with students have been presented at national professional meetings or published in primary biological journals with student co-authors. Click here for a list of my presentations and publications with student co-authors. My other research projects on Red-winged Blackbirds include studies of:
 A male Red-winged Blackbird attacks Jen Nerat '94 as she weighs a nestling. |
My friend and colleague Bill Searcy and I
have published three major references on the Red-winged Blackbird.
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Finally,
I am also interested in improving science education, from elementary school
through college. I was a member of the Education Committee of the Animal Behavior
Society (1991-1994), and I helped to organize workshops on teaching animal behavior
to high school and college students. I continue to work on these issues with
the Animal Behavior Society. Rebecca Brooks ('93, Biology with Education Certification),
a high school biology teacher, and I have written a series of laboratory exercises
for an advanced high school biology class. These exercises use animal behavior
to teach science as it is practiced - as an active process of hypothesis-driven
inquiry, and are available free of charge from Laboratory
Exercises in Animal Behavior
(
Rebecca L. Brooks and Ken Yasukawa ). In addition, Bonnie Ploger and I,
in conjunction with the Animal Behavior Society, have published an inquiry-based
laboratory manual to be used in college-level courses in animal behavior: Exploring
Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field (PDF) (Academic Press).
