Profile

Masanori TATANI
MSc in Life Sciences

Studying why and how the species and morphological diversity have been created and being maintained based on ecology, morphology and genetic information of birds. Capturing wild birds under the governmental permission as a bird bander.

Affiliation

2025.4 – present
JSPS DC2 fellowship, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University

2025.4 – present
Teaching assistant, School of Human Sciences, Waseda University (Ecology; Animal Ecology)

2024.4 – 2025.3
Recipient of JST SPRING, Tohoku University Advanced Graduate School, Tohoku University 

2023.4 – 2024.3
Tohoku University Doctoral Fellowship, Tohoku University Advanced Graduate School, Tohoku University 

2023.4 – 2023.9
Research Assistant, Graduate School of Agricultural Science Trans-Faculty Erudition Unit, Tohoku University 

2023.1 – 2023.3
Administrative Assistant, Graduate School of Agricultural Science Trans-Faculty Erudition Unit, Tohoku University

2022.7–2023.3
Recipient of the Global Hagi Scholarship of Tohoku University

Education

2023.4 – present
Doctoral program at the Department of Ecological Developmental Adaptability Life Sciences, Graduate school of Life Sciences, Tohoku University

2021.4 – 2023.3
Master's program at the Department of Ecological Developmental Adaptability Life Sciences, Graduate school of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Master of Life Sciences

2017.4 – 2021.3
Biology Course, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University
Bachelor of Science

2014.4 – 2017.3
Ichikawa Gakuen Ichikawa Senior High School

Research Interests

Various evolutionary ecological research topics including:

• Niche shift via rapid trait evolution at an early stage of speciation: genomics of introduced Hwamei in Japan

• Species coexistence under resource-fructuating condition: shorebirds diet analysis at a stopover site by fecal DNA metabarcoding

• Evolutionary-Biomechanics of avian flight: how birds adapts to their flight behavior under the strong phylogenetic constraint on wing morphology?

• Conservation biology of shorebirds: banding, genomics and modeling of Dunlins Calidris alpina

• How much birds-driven long distance dispersal affect on distribution and genetics of migrants?

• How extinction procedes in land snails?

• Why and how symbiosis between marine snails and flatworms starts?

Grants and Projects

2025.4.1–2027.3.31
JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (1.6M JPY)
"Elucidating mechanisms of speciation by brain size: evolution of migratory behavior of introduced Hwamei in Japan"
https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-25KJ0609

2025.4.1–2026.3.31
Yamashina Takehiko grant program, Yamashina Institute for Ornithology (150K JPY)
"Shorebird Breeding Ecology study, Utqiagvik, Alaska and Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival 2025"

2024.4.1–2025.2.10
Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant (990K JPY)
"Plasticity of foraging behavior enables species coexistence: empirical study on shorebirds diet"

2024.4–2025.3
バードリサーチ調査研究支援プロジェクト 2023年度助成 共同研究者（代表：細谷 淳さん）
「キタアラスカハマシギが減っているのは日本の越冬地のせい？ハマシギの日本での越冬期の生存率を調べたい！」

2023.9.1–2024.8.31
Paleo Labo Co., Ltd. Research Grant 2023 (300K JPY + Free AMS 14C ages determination for 10 samples)
"化石記録と遺伝情報から推定する絶滅危惧固有陸産貝類エラブマイマイの分布域変遷"

2023.4–2026.3
The Tohoku University Doctoral Fellowship Research Grant (344K JPY / Year)

2023.4–2024.3
バードリサーチ調査研究支援プロジェクト 2022年度助成 共同研究者（代表：細谷 淳さん）
「STOP「#アオシギいない」！－アオシギの保全のための越冬地での行動範囲、渡りルートと繁殖地の解明－」

2022.4–2023.3
バードリサーチ調査研究支援プロジェクト 2021年度助成 共同研究者（代表：竹田 山原楽さん）
「アオバズクの渡り戦略における島嶼の重要性の検証」

2021.4–2022.9
Fujiwara Natural History Foundation (833K JPY)
"What is the difference of breeding habitat between Northern Boobook Ninox japonica and Oriental Scops-owl Otus sunia? -- Fine-scale diet reconstruction using DNA and stable isotope analysis"