Supporting graduate studies

Marty Leonard is a familiar face at Dal, but a new one within the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

This September Dr. Leonard, a longstanding member of the Department of Biology, took office as the Facultys new dean.

I came to Dal in 1993 to join the Department of Biology, she explains. I came on what was then called a womens faculty award. I have been at Dal ever since. Dr. Leonard has been a professor and researcher in the Department of Biology since her arrival, but she also served as the Dean of Science for a year through 2008 and 2009.

Many Science students might recognize her name from Introductory Biology, where she teaches a section on animal form and function. Others might know her from her third-year behavioural ecology course a favorite of many Biology students.

Her research interests are primarily in animal communication and bird conservation. She shares a lab with her graduate students and husband, Andy Horn, who also teaches behavioural ecology and a popular field methods course in animal behavior.

In my lab we do a mix of basic and applied conservation biology, she explains. Her graduate students work in a variety of topics, often trying to understand why a species has declined like it has or understanding how animals navigate the world. Most of my students are doing projects with a focus on birds, but not exclusively, she says. Ive had students that have worked on seals and bats, for example.

Dr. Leonard and Dr. Horn have recently began investigating the effects that human noise are having on bird communication. Humans make a lot of noise, she explains. That noise is spreading to areas where it didnt previously exist. Andy and I have looked at how this ambient or external noise interferes with communication between parents and young in birds.

Dr. Leonard has also acted as chair and bird specialist for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Beyond being a graduate supervisor herself Dr. Leonard has long been passionate about graduate studies at Dal.

There is a lot of variety and diversity in the types of programs that we offer, she says. That means that we can attract students from all over the world who are interested in different things. And we have fantastic faculty, together that creates a great environment for graduate students to flourish.

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Supporting graduate studies