Dr. JEFFREY LUCAS

Professor
765-494-8112
LILY G-339
jlucas@purdue.edu

Associated website(s):

Lab Website , Lab Members , Courses , Decision Making , Publications

PROFESSIONAL FACULTY RESEARCH

(Evolutionary ecology; behavioral ecology) Animal Communication, sensory ecology, hearing and call complexity in birds, use of dynamic game theory in animal behavior

BIO

My lab focuses on animal communication, both from the perspective of the receiver and from the perspective of the sender of signals. We are using a technique called Auditory Evoked Potentials to measure the properties of the auditory system. Our goal is to understand the adaptive significance of the processing of sound with an emphasis on the role that habitat and seasonality plays in signal processing. We were one of the first labs to demonstrate seasonal patterns in the peripheral processing of sound in birds, and we have expanded our understanding of seasonality in auditory processing in several recent publications.

We are also studying the degree to which complex signals convey "information" among birds. Studies of bird communication, in turn, provide an excellent model for understanding our own language. We have focused most of our work on Carolina chickadees -- birds that have one of the most complex vfocal systems of any species outside of humans. Indeed, chickadees are one of the few animals known to use syntax in their vocal signals.

Education

Ph.D., Florida, 1983

Professional Faculty Research

(Evolutionary ecology; behavioral ecology) Animal Communication, sensory ecology, hearing and call complexity in birds, use of dynamic game theory in animal behavior

Awards

Top Ten Outstanding Teachers in the College of Science for 2005

Elected Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society: 2009

Elected Fellow of AAAS: 2013

Other Activities

Interviewed for the Purdue SuperHeroes of Science series (bit.ly/SOS_UTube). Video released 13 April 2020 at https://bit.ly/SOSLucas (audio at https://bit.ly/LibsynLucas ). Series of UTube videos directed toward middle/high school students and teachers about possibilities in science careers.
Recorded a podcast for Arun Shankar (in India) entitled “Science talk with Arun Shankar” 16 Oct 2020
Safe Zone Training. 20+22 Oct 2020
Panel discussion 16 June 2021, Animal Behavior Society, Weaving the Future of Animal Behavior
Mentor for the Animal Behavior Society “ABS 2021 Virtual Meeting Mentoring Program
Mentor for 3 students in the Purdue Emerging Leaders in Science Scholars program fall, spring 2020 -present: Andrea Rosado Chamorro, Paula Rivera Carrasquillo, Campbell Wagner
I was interviewed for an ‘Ask a Biologist’ podcast covering the chick-a-dee call system. 23 May 2016. This is a website constructed by Charles Kazilek, Arizona State Univ.
Gave a talk about “Animal communication and estimates of complexity” to a workshop for STEM high school teachers charged with putting together high school modules that combine the STEM disciplines. 31 May 2016
Animal Communication class included in list of ‘Cool classes’ at Purdue University, Advertised in Purdue’s Alumnus Magazine, Feb 2016

Editorial Board

Biology Letters

Grant Review/Study Sections

NSF, Graduate Research Fellowship Program, February 6-8, 2006
NSF, Animal Behavior Proposal Review Panel, Oct 18-20, 2006
NSF, Animal Behavior Proposal Review Panel, Oct 28-30, 2009
NSF, Graduate Research Fellowship Program, January 22-24, 2014
NSF, Graduate Research Fellowship Program, January 5-8, 2015
NSF, Graduate Research Fellowship Program, January 22, 2020

Faculty Presentations

2021 Jan 26. Douglas-Hart Nature Center Foundation Programs, Mattoon IL. “Why are chickadees interesting? The chick-a-dee ‘language’ (among other things)”
2021 Mar 23 Dept of Biology, Indiana State University. “Plasticity in the auditory system of birds”
2021 Mar 23 Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy (WREN) Webinar: Raptor Behaviour and Physiology as it Relates to Wind Energy Development. “Wind turbines, and the auditory system of golden and bald eagles”
2021 Mar 25 Dept of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Hearing Seminar Series, Purdue University. “RCR Discussion of Rigor and Reproducibility: power analysis, open science/pre-registration, etc.” – I facilitated the discussion on power analysis
2021 Sept 30 Dept of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Hearing Seminar Series, Purdue University. “What resources fit into the hierarchy of life? Information is one…”
2 Apr 2015. Champaign County Audubon Society, Urbana IL. "What we miss when we listen to bird song: the hearing side of avian communication"
23 Apr 2015. Middlefork Chapter of the Illinois Audubon, Danville IL. "What we miss when we listen to bird song: the hearing side of avian communication"
8-9 Dec 2015. NREL Lab -- Eagle Detection and Deterrent Technology: Research Gaps and Solutions Workshop. “Eagle Biology, Physiology, and Population Status: Auditory”
15 Feb 2016. Dept of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. University of Florida, Gainesville FL. “Hearing: the other side of avian communication”
5 Oct 2016. Dept of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University. “Now for something completely different: the extraordinarily complex vocal repertoire of Carolina chickadees

Conferences

2021

SICB Annual Meeting (virtual). M Gall, AT Baugh, JR Lucas, M Bee. Contributed talk: “Social communication across reproductive boundaries: hormones and the auditory periphery”

Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, 29-30 June (vitural). AJ Barabas, JR Lucas, MA Erasmus, HW Cheng, BN Gaskill. Contributed talk: “Validating measures of dominance in male laboratory mice to better understand home cage aggression”

27 ^th Animal Behavior Virtual Conference 26,27 March. Indiana University. JB Jenkins, JR Lucas. Contributed talk: “Song note diversity and patterns in frequency ratios in the Carolina chickadee”

54 ^th International Congress of the International Society of Applied Ethology. A Barbas, J Lucas, M Erasmus, H Cheng, B Gaskill. “Practical measures of dominance to reduce aggression and improve welfare in male laboratory mice, Mus musculus”

Animal Behavior Society Conference (virtual). Invited Symposium presentation, Resource limitation: a tie that binds in the evolution of sociality? Jeffrey Lucas, Theodore Pavlic, Kelsey Caetano-Anolles, Brent Ewers, Shipla Iyer, Andre Seale and Yu Zeng. “Constraints bring clarity to animal behavior: Re-integrating life sciences through resource limitation”

2016

1-3 Aug 2016. Animal Behavior Society Conference, Univ of Missouri.

“The dimensions of information flow in chickadees and titmice”. Talk presented by JR Lucas. M Wigren, N Lancaster, S Mugel, K Sieving, T Freeberg

“Assessing the effect of season and habitat on complex call propagation and usage in two Parid species”. Talk presented by Anupriya Karippadath. TM Freeberg, KE Sieving, JR Lucas

“Space use and habitat as drivers of vocal complexity in chickadees and titmice”. Talk presented by Nolan D Lancaster. SG Mugel, A Karippadath, MA Wigren, KE Sieving, TM Freeberg, JR Lucas

“Linking social complexity and flock structure to vocal communication in chickadees and titmice”. Talk presented by Stephen G Mugel. ND Lancaster, M Wigren,A, Karippadath, TM Freeberg, KE Sieving, JR Lucas