个人简介
A native of North Dakota, Dr. Walker received his Bachelor’s of Arts in Biology from Drake University, in Des Moines, Iowa (1990). He received a Master’s Degree in Biology from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, studying the reproductive behavior of male harbor seals (Phoca vitulina - 1992). He next spent four years as a Wildlife Biologist for NOAA – working in Antarctica studying foraging and breeding patterns in Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella). He returned to graduate school to pursue a PhD in the Department of Zoology at the University of Washington, Seattle, examining how human disturbances – in this case, ecotourism – affected the development and expression of the glucocorticoid stress response in Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus). Following the completion of his PhD (2003), Dr. Walker undertook a one-year post-doc research position at Arizona State University (2003-2004), followed by temporary teaching positions at the University of Washington and Seattle Central Community College (2004-2005). After a one-year visiting Assistant Professor position at Gonzaga University, Spokane WA (2005-2006), Dr. Walker joined the Biology department at Fairfield University as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2006, and was granted tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2010. Dr. Walker has served as an advisory professor for the University’s Environmental Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) Programs throughtout his tenue at the University, including a two-year stint as Co-Director of LACS. He served as Chair of the Biology Department from 2010 - 2014, during which time he was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to spend the fall semester of 2012 at the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF) in Campos dos Goytocazes, Brazil. Currently, he has accepted a 3-year term as an Associate Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences, but continues teaching in introductory and upper division courses in Physiology, as well as continuing research on stress physiology in birds.
研究领域
I am interested in how animals adapt - physiologically - to different environments. Specifically, I focus on how anthropogenic (aka human) disturbances affect the stress physiology of free-living animals. I measure changes in glucocorticoids stress hormones as indicators of how well animals are dealing with their environments - a discipline called "environmental endocrinology." While behavioral consequences of human perturbations are well documented in ecological studies - less attention focuses on the internal physiological changes that animals must make in order to successfully adapt to disturbed environments (or fail to make and thus do not adapt). Physiological consequences of disturbances are important, for patterns of behavior responses do not always exemplify internal changes in homeostasis. So, while certain species may outwardly "appear" to do well in human-disturbed locations, might there be internal effects - which are much more difficult to measure - that could be negatively affecting their lives? These "masked" physiological effects might be particularly pertinent, as there is mounting support for the idea that physiological costs of current disturbances may not be manifest until much later is life.
Here at Fairfield University, we have undertaken a number of studies examining human disturbance effects on wildlife – mostly birds. My students and I have done studies on Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) and house sparrows (Paser domesticus) here in Connecticut. Additionally, I have a deep love for Latin America (having spent 4 years in Argentina during my PhD), and have conducted studies in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica, looking at how birds are dealing with human disturbance activities. I have continued research on penguins in Argentina, and, most recently, received a Fulbirght Fellowship to spend the fall of 2012 at the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), in Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil, collaborating on research topics and teaching in areas of stress physiology. Currently, I am working two separate collaborations with colleagues and graduate students from two nearby universities - UCONN and Fordham. These collaborations look at issues of stress physiology in birds that are using urban stopover sites while migrating back and forth to breeding grounds (Fordham collaboration) and how stress physiology and thermal signatures might be correlated (UCONN collaboration).
近期论文
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Walker, BG, S Meddle, LM Romero, M Landys, J Reneerkens and JC Wingdield. 2015 Breeding on the extreme edge: Modulation of the adrenocortical response to acute stress in two High Arctic passerines. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology 323A:266-275.
Walker, BG, PD Boersma and JC Wingfield. 2015. The glucocorticoid stress response in Magellanic penguins: Comparing within and between breeding seasons, by age and colony, after fighting, and with other penguin species. Canadian Journal of Zoology 93: 123-131.
Villanueva, BG Walker and M. Bertelotti. 2014 Seasonal variation in the physiological and behavioral responses to tourist visitation in Magellanic penguins. Journal of Wildlife Management 78:1466-1476.
Villanueva, C, BG Walker and M Bertellotti. 2011. A matter of history: effects of tourism on physiology, behaviour and breeding parameters in Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) at two colonies in Argentina. Journal of Ornithology 153:219-228.
Bouzat, JL, BG Walker and PD Boersma. 2009. Regional genetic structure in the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) suggests metapopulation dynamics. Auk 126:326-334.
Walker, BG, JC Wingfield and PD Boersma. 2008. Tourism and Magellanic Penguins: An Example of Applying Endocrine Physiology Tools to Address Questions of Conservation Concern. Neotropical Ornithology 19:219-228.
Lynn, SE, JM Egar, BG Walker, M Ramenofsky and TS Sperry. 2007. Fish on Prozac: A simple, non-invasive physiology lab investigating the mechanisms of aggressive behavior in Betta splendens. Advances in Physiology Education 313:358-363.
Walker, BG, PD Boersma, and JC Wingfield. 2006. Habituation of adult Magellanic penguins to human visitation as expressed through behavior and corticosterone secretion. Conservation Biology 20:146-154.
Walker, BG, PD Boersma, and JC Wingfield. 2005. Physiological and behavioral differences in Magellanic penguin chicks in undisturbed and tourist-visited locations of a colony. Conservation Biology 19:1571-1577.
Walker, BG, PD Boersma, and JC Wingfield. 2005. Field Endocrinology and Conservation Biology. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45:12-18.
Walker, BG, JC Wingfield, and PD Boersma. 2005. Age and food deprivation affect expression of the glucocorticosteriod stress response in Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) chicks. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 78:78-89.
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