Darren O'Connell

Research Interests

Funding: Irish Research Council, Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship

My primary research interest is in the fundamental evolutionary mechanisms that underlie speciation. For my PhD I am studying divergence in an ecological guild of passerine birds in Sulawesi, Indonesia. By investigating divergence in a group of competing species I aim to uncover the relative role that competition and environmental factors have in driving and maintaining the speciation process. My general research interests include conservation biology, restoration ecology, behavioural ecology and social evolution. I am also an enthusiastic promoter of citizen science biodiversity monitoring.

Publications

O’Connell, D.P., Sealy, S., Ó Marcaigh, F., Karya , A., Bahrun, A., Analuddin, K., Kelly, D.J. & Marples, N.M. (in press) The avifauna of Kabaena Island, South-east Sulawesi, Indonesia. Forktail, 33.

O’Connell, D.P., Power, A., Keogh, N.T., McGuirk, J., Macey, C. and Newton, S.F. (2015) Egg fostering in Little Terns (Sternula albifrons) in response to nest abandonment after a depredation event. Irish Birds, 10 (2): 159 – 162.

O’Connell, D.P., Power, A., Doyle, S. and Newton, S.F. (2014) Nest movement by Little Terns (Sternula albifrons) and Ringed Plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) in response to inundation by high tides. Irish Birds, 10 (1): 19 – 22.

O’Connell, D.P., Macey, C., Power, A., Wray, J. and Newton, S.F. (2014) Kilcoole Little Tern Colony Report 2014. BirdWatch Ireland Conservation Report.

Doyle, S., O’Connell, D.P. and Newton, S.F. (2013) Baltray Little Tern Colony Report 2013. BirdWatch Ireland Conservation Report.

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