Patrick Anthony Guerra

Biography

The overarching goal of our work is to understand how animals use different types of sensory cues, derived from the world around them, in order to inform behavioral decision-making. In particular, we investigate how animals perceive and use sensory cues to faciliate movement across broad spatial and temporal scales. Understanding animal movement is important since it can strongly influence individual survivorship and fitness, and for many species, it is a crucial aspect of their biology that is now under threat due to contemporary environmental stressors. We study monarch butterflies and their iconic long-distance migration in North America as a system to better understand large-scale animal movement phenomenon (e.g., migration). Our work focuses on examining how monarch butterflies use various sensory-based orientation mechanisms to guide them during their long-distance journey. We also study cecropia moths and their construction of complex dimorphic, multi-layered cocoons, as a way to examine small-scale animal movement behavior (e.g., animal architecture). This research aims to understand the function and evolution of complex architectural design in cocoons which serve as overwintering structures for individuals. In addition to the basic knowledge on animal movement that our research yields, our work can inspire biomedical, biomimetic, and engineering applications, as well as provide information that can help preserve such wonders of nature.

Research Interest

SBBE; sensory ecology; orientation and navigation mechanisms; animal architecture; animal movement patterns and life history traits; insect flight; cocoon construction; circadian biology; biomimetics