Title:	Senior Lecturer in Wildlife & Fisheries Science
	Phone:	814-863-0135
	Email:	olsen@psu.edu
	Webpage:	www.personal.psu.edu/bjo11
	Address:	The Pennsylvania State University School of Forest Resources 405 Forest Resources Building University Park, PA 16802

Education:

B.S. Juniata College (2001)
Ph.D. Virginia Polytechnic and State University (2006)

Academic Interests:

Animal Behavior, Evoluntionary Ecology, Ornithology, Sexual Selection, Wetland Bird Conservation, Speciation

Courses Taught:

Wildlife & Fisheries Measurements (WFS 310), Conservation Biology (FOR/WFS 403), Mammalogy (WFS 408) & Mammology Lab (WFS 409)

Professional Affiliations:

American Ornithologists' Union
Cooper Ornithological Society
Wilson Ornithological Society
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Society for Conservation Biology
Earth & Ecological Science Institute
International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group

Sexual vs. Natural Selection on Plumage Evolution
Plumage/pelage color can be important for both the survival of an individual in a given ecosystem (natural selection) and the ability of that individual to attain mates and reproduce (sexual selection). In Swamp Sparrows behavioral experimentation and correlative evidence from multiple populations, male crown coloration was a signal for both male aggression and parental care, while male body plumage color and female crown color was related to salinity. Sexual selection drives the relative color of male crowns in this system while environmental effects drive body plumage and female crown color. The degree of sexual dichromatism (where males and females are different colors) thus appears to be a strong indication of the influence of both of these selective forces on a given mating system.

Global Temperatures on Bird Demography
Below approximately 25 degrees C, known as physiological zero, freshly laid bird eggs can sit out in the open without either cellular development or detrimental effect. For proper embryonic development, eggs in incubated closer to 35 degrees C. When ambient temperatures are between these values, however, unincubated eggs may develop abnormally, leading to decreased egg viability and smaller clutch sizes. Research in the Delaware salt marsh has shown correlative relationships between clutch size and ambient air temperatures during laying. It appears that females may adjust their clutch size in order to avoid egg exposure to these suboptimal temperatures. Furthermore, those females that do not adjust their clutch sizes possess more inviable eggs. Combined with nest predation, these patterns may set southern limits of demographic viability for certain bird species, and increasing global temperatures may shift these geographic limits north.

Methyl-Mercury on Behavioral Plasticity
Mercury, which is atmospherically deposited in high levels throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern Canadian provinces, is changed into methyl-mercury by bacterial action in wetland and aquatic systems. Methyl-mercury is a highly potent neural toxin that biomagnifies quickly up the food chain. This presents a suite of behavioral challenges to vertebrates and may limit their ability to adapt to changing circumstances. A current project addresses how behavioral plasticity, neophobia, and adaptability to human land-use are affected by this environmental pollutant.

Olsen, B. J., J. Felch, R. Greenberg, and J. R. Walters. In Revision. Causes of reduced clutch size in a tidal marsh endemic. Oecologia.

Etterson, M. A., B. J. Olsen, R. Greenberg. 2007. The analysis of covariates in multi-fate Markov chain nest failure models in Beyond Mayfield: Measurements of Nest Survival Data (S. L. Jones and G. R. Geupel, eds.). Studies in Avian Biology 34:55-64.

Greenberg, R. G., C. Elphick, J.C. Nordby, C. Gjerdrum., H. Spautz, G. Shriver, B. Schmeling, B. J. Olsen, P. Marra, N. Nur, and M. Winter. 2006. Flooding and predation: Trade-offs in the nesting ecology of tidal-marsh sparrows. Pp. 96-109 in Terrestrial Vertebrates of Tidal Salt Marshes: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation (R. Greenberg, J. E. Maldonado, S. Droege, and M. V. McDonald, eds.). Studies in Avian Biology 32:96-109.

Greenberg, R., B. J. Olsen, and G. Gough. 2005. Population status of the Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow in Delaware. Delmarva Ornithologist 37.