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Research interests

• Vocal mimicry in northern mockingbirds
• Bioacoustics (study of the sounds of organisms)
• Cultural evolution and social learning in animals
• I am also interested in interdisciplinary research pathways, such as public understanding of science, observing human history through an evolutionary lens, or thinking of ATP production as a business supply chain. Let me know if you've got an interesting idea.

Potential mockingbird projects in which undergraduates might get involved (some projects already in progress, others still swirling around my head in embryo; talk to me for more details)

• How does the mimetic repertoire change over time? The mimetic repertoire, which is the list of species mimicked by a mockingbird, could potentially change in many ways. For example, does the repertoire change seasonally in response to breeding and migration patterns? Does it change year to year as old birds pick up new tricks? Finally, does the population-level repertoire change year to year as some songs become more fashionable, and others become less trendy? This project involves making audio recordings of lots of singing mockingbirds in the field, and then spending even more time in front of a computer identifying sounds.
• Mock what--other species, or just the neighbors? When Nutty the Mockingbird mimics a blue jay, did he learn the blue jay sound from a blue jay, or from his mockingbird neighbor? We are getting an answer to this question by making acoustic comparisons between the songs of mimic and model species, and by observing directly how song develops in mockingbirds. Maybe true mimicry isn't as common as we think.
• Do mockingbirds actually communicate with other species? Any amateur birder can identify a few of the species that are mimicked by mockingbirds, but are these species fooled by the mimicry? We are getting an answer to this question by simultaneous monitoring of mockingbirds and of the species getting mimicked. We might follow up these observational studies with playback experiments. This project will involve lots of time in the field chasing mockingbirds and other bird species.
• Is it possible to predict which environmental sounds get mimicked? My previous observational research suggests mockingbirds preferentially imitate environmental sounds that already sound acoustically like the non-imitative song produced by mockingbirds. To verify this kind of model selection actually takes place requires an experiment. A song-tutoring like this is logistically complicated, but I can do a "natural experiment" by performing a continent-wide survey of mockingbirds and frog sounds to see if the suite of frog species mimicked corresponds to predictions. This project involves lots of time at a computer downloading sounds from youtube and from libraries of natural sounds.
• How does vocal mimicry evolve? Mapping vocal mimicry onto the phylogeny of mockingbirds and the rest of Mimidae shows at one point the ancestor of mockingbirds had a vocal repertoire lacking any imitations of other species. In contrast modern mockingbirds have a repertoire consisting of both mimetic and non-mimetic song. How do these two types of song compare acoustically, and what does this tell us about the developmental mechanisms by which vocal mimicry originates?

Other professional activities

• Organizer of Tectonic Plates: Alamance County's Science Cafe: Every month a professional scientist visits a local restaurant to discuss cutting edge science in a relaxed informal atmosphere without all the technical jargon. Contact me for more info.
• Author of several editorials with local and regional newspapers: I have written on topics such as climate change, evolution, energy, statistics, and mockingbirds. To read these editorials search elon.edu for "In my words Gammon". I write editorials because so few people read peer-reviewed academic papers.
• Community presentations: I have spoken with community gatherings on various science topics such as animal behavior, birds, the evolutionary history of life, and stem cell research. Contact me for more info.