Hi! My name is Kevin, and I am an Associate Professor of Science at SUNY Empire State College Metropolitan Center in Manhattan, NY. Here, I teach the natural sciences to all students, and continue to exercise my broad research interests in animal behavior, psychobiology, ecology, and conservation. To date, I have been fortuitous and studied the behavior of many species, such as lizards, fish, cuttlefish, insects, marine mammals, and humans both in the laboratory and in the wild. In particular, my research interests in behavior have focused on the evolution of signal design, communication, sensory ability, learning, cognition, and personality. Although I was born and raised in Queens, NY, I have spent the last 10 years or so gallivanting around the globe. Somewhere in my travel-frenzy madness, I managed to punch out two post graduate degrees, found a lovely wife (or she found me – it depends on who you ask first), adopted two offspring of two different species, visited some awe-inspiring countries and cultures, eaten some delicious ethnic cuisines, dodged a few bullets, and met a lot of awesome people who will likely remain great friends for life. In particular, I spent the greater part of my travels completing my MSc in Ecology & Biodiversity from Victoria University of Wellington in Aotearoa and PhD in Animal Behavior from Macquarie University Australia, before returning to the United States for visiting professorships at Southwestern University (TX) and the University of Central Florida (FL). With my appointment and return to New York City (although I received a classic welcomed return when when I awoke one morning to find that someone had stolen my beloved bike outside my apartment), I hope to use the urban environment as a platform to investigate the impact of human activity on native flora and fauna. Moreover, I want to know how anthropogenic effects have likely influenced ecological and behavioral interactions, and what implications it may have on future generations. Right now, I have projects at the Prospect Park Zoo, and conduct field observations of seals in-and-around NYC in the winter with the Center for the Study of Pinniped Ecology & Cognition (C-SPEC).
Lastly, I’m an avid New York Mets fan, I dig Dogfish Head, I’m experimenting with urban farming, and I surf when I see rolling seawater. Thanks.
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The Family
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