Alexis Billings • Daane Lab

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education

University of Montana, Missoula PhD Organismal Biology, Ecology, and Evolution <p University of Colorado, Boulder BA Psychology

I joined the lab as a postdoc in May 2019. My work is focused on red blotch virus and understanding the spread through insect vectors. My Ph.D is from the University of Montana with Dr. Erick Greene and focused on animal communication and behavior in birds with an emphasis on understanding the ecology and evolution of acoustic mobbing signals in Passerines. My first postdoc was with Dr. Don Price at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and focused on Hawaiian picture-wing Drosophila courtship signals and how these complex, multimodal signals are processed by females and how this may lead to reproductive isolation between closely-related sympatric species and potentially lead to speciation.

Publications

Billings, A.C., E. Greene. and S. Jensen*. 2015. Are chickadees good listeners? Antipredator responses to raptor vocalizations. Animal Behaviour 110: 1-8. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.09.004

Billings, A.C., E. Greene and D. MacArthur-Waltz**. 2017. Steller’s jays assess and communicate about predator risk using detection cues and identity. Behavioral Ecology 28(3), 776–783. doi:10.1093/beheco/arx035

Billings, A.C. 2018. The low frequency acoustic structure of mobbing calls differs across habitat types in three passerine families. Animal Behaviour 138: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.02.001

Billings, A.C., K.E. Schultz*, E.A. Hernandez*, W.E. Jones and D.K. Price. 2018. Male courtship behaviors and female choice reduced during experimental starvation stress. Behavioral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary144.

Billings, A.C. and D. Blumstein. 2018. Communication. Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. (T.K. Shackelford and J. Vonk, editors). Springer. https://doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1665-1.

Billings, A.C. and D. Blumstein. A framework to understand interspecific multimodal signaling systems. Animal Signals and Communication. (T. Aubin and N. Mathevon, editors). Springer. In Press.

Odom, K.J., M. Araya-Salas, J.L. Morano, R.A. Ligon, G.M. Leighton, C.C. Taff, A.H. Dalziell, A.C.

Billings, R.R. Germain, M. Pardo, L. Guimarães de Andrade, D. Hedwig, S.C. Keen Y. Shiu, R.A. Charif, M.S. Webster and A.N. Rice. Comparative bioacoustics: a roadmap for quantifying and comparing animal sounds across diverse taxa. In Review.

Moreno, J.L., A.C. Billings, E. Greene and C.W. Clark. Blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) alarm response and behavior is different for predators of different sizes. In Review.

Awards and Honors

NV-INBRE – IdeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Scientific Service Award 2019 $2,000
SBE – International Society of Behavioral Ecology Travel Award 2018 $500
NSF – National Science Foundation East Asia & Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) Fellowship,Japan Fellow, Kyoto University, Host: Dr. Toshitaka Suzuki 2017 $10,000
Bertha Morton Scholarship, University of Montana, Missoula 2016 $ 3,000
Dan Pletscher Scholarship for Avian Science, University of Montana, Missoula 2016 $ 5,000
Drollinger-Dial Research Travel Grant, University of Montana, Missoula 2016 $ 2,000
Drollinger-Dial Research Travel Grant, University of Montana, Missoula 2015 $ 1,000
PEO – Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholar Grant (Nominated) 2015 ––––––
Dan Pletscher Scholarship for Avian Science, University of Montana 2014 $ 5,000NSF
National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) Fellowship, Australia Fellow, The Australian National University, Host: Dr. Robert Magrath 2014 $ 8,000
NSF – National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (Honorable Mention) 2012 ––––––