Welcome to the Contina Lab!
We conduct research in the School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). We study the ecological mechanisms underlying species resilience under local and global change, with emphasis on migratory populations. Our Lab implements a combination of cutting-edge tools including tracking devices and molecular methods. We promote a novel framework in Movement Ecology by advancing data analysis through R programming language and by offering a systematic application of multi-disciplinary techniques.
The Contina Lab focuses on species that exhibit quantifiable variation in response to environmental change and are abundant enough to study efficiently, such as buntings, warblers, jays, and plovers. Our research shows that by adopting cutting-edge data analysis, in conjunction with bio-logging and molecular techniques, we can acquire unprecedented data and integrate multiple scientific fields under a novel and unifying framework.
Recently, we started a new project in bioacoustics, a field of research that involves sound recordings to study biological systems. We are contributing towards a coordinated link between sensors and machine learning algorithms and develop a state-wide network of passive recordings that feed into iterative forecasting models. Please feel free to get in touch by email if you have any questions about the lab.