Susan D. Healy

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Susan D. Healy
FRSE
Occupationprofessor of biology
Employer University of St. Andrews
Known forspecialist in researching cognitive behaviour in animals, especially birds and the neural bases for this

Susan Denise Healy FRSE professor of biology at the University of St. Andrews, specialist in cognitive evolution and behavioural studies of birds (storing food, nesting, foraging) and understanding the neurological basis of this. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021. [1]

Research interests and selected publications

Healy had earlier studied the brain structure of one kind of bird, exhibiting certain behaviours, [2] compared the nest building techniques of different birds, [3] studied stress behaviour in albino rats of either sex, [4] and how hummingbirds learn which flowers to choose [5] as well as debating scientific methodology for studying cognition in animals. [6] She has furthered her studies on the use of materials for nesting and its impact on birds' reproductive success, [7] and noted how hummingbirds avoided flower locations where they had had poor rewards, [8] as well as examining the disciplines used in research on animal behaviour, psychology or machine learning, [9] and how to consider 'dexterity' across species from primates to birds to insects. [10]

Her publications are listed by the University of St. Andrews. [11] Healy has been on the editorial team of a number of academic journals: Animal Behaviour, [12] Ethnology [11] and Animal Cognition, [13] and an invited speaker at international conferences. Her research has been funded by grants from BBSRC, Marie Curie Fellowships, and the Leverhulme Trust, amongst others. [11] She recently won a European grant for £0.25m for NEURONest: Nest building in birds: cognitive, neural and molecular basis of an overlooked behaviour. [11]

In 2021, Healy was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Professor Susan Healy FRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ↑ Krebs, J. R.; Sherry, D. F.; Healy, S. D.; Perry, V. H.; Vaccarino, A. L. (1 February 1989). "Hippocampal specialization of food-storing birds". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 86 (4): 1388–1392. Bibcode:1989PNAS...86.1388K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.4.1388 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   286696 . PMID   2919184.
  3. ↑ Healy, Sue; Walsh, Patrick; Hansell, Mike (8 April 2008). "Nest building by birds". Current Biology. 18 (7): R271 –R273. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.020 . ISSN   0960-9822. PMID   18397728. S2CID   824546.
  4. ↑ Harris, Anjanette P.; D'eath, Richard B.; Healy, Susan D. (November 2008). "Sex differences, or not, in spatial cognition in albino rats: acute stress is the key" . Animal Behaviour. 76 (5): 1579–1589. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.07.016. S2CID   53205348.
  5. ↑ Samuels, Michael; Hurly, T. Andrew; Healy, Susan D. (1 November 2014). "Colour cues facilitate learning flower refill schedules in wild hummingbirds" . Behavioural Processes. Animal Cognition in the Wild. 109: 157–163. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.007. ISSN   0376-6357. PMID   25234604. S2CID   16258240.
  6. ↑ Rowe, Candy; Healy, Susan D. (2014). "Measuring cognition will be difficult but worth it: a response to comments on Rowe and Healy" . Behavioral Ecology. 25 (6): 1298. doi:10.1093/beheco/aru190. hdl: 10.1093/beheco/aru190 . ISSN   1465-7279.
  7. ↑ Breen, Alexis J.; Healy, Susan D.; Guillette, Lauren M. (1 December 2021). "Reproductive consequences of material use in avian nest construction" . Behavioural Processes. 193 104507. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104507. hdl: 10023/26054 . ISSN   0376-6357. PMID   34562513. S2CID   237603148.
  8. ↑ Tello-Ramos, Maria C.; Hurly, T. Andrew; Barclay, Mabel; Healy, Susan D. (2 August 2021). "Hummingbirds modify their routes to avoid a poor location". Learning & Behavior. 50 (1): 89–98. doi:10.3758/s13420-021-00476-3. ISSN   1543-4494. PMC   8979907 . PMID   34341946. S2CID   236884788.
  9. ↑ Lewis, Mark A.; Fagan, William F.; Auger-Méthé, Marie; Frair, Jacqueline; Fryxell, John M.; Gros, Claudius; Gurarie, Eliezer; Healy, Susan D.; Merkle, Jerod A. (9 July 2021). "Learning and Animal Movement". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 9 681704. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.681704 . hdl: 10023/23569 . ISSN   2296-701X.
  10. ↑ Sugasawa, Shoko; Webb, Barbara; Healy, Susan D. (31 March 2021). "Object manipulation without hands". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1947): rspb.2020.3184, 20203184. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.3184. ISSN   0962-8452. PMC   8059664 . PMID   33726598.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Susan Healy - Research publications - University of St Andrews". risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Editorial Board - Animal Behaviour - Journal - Elsevier". www.journals.elsevier.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "Animal Cognition". Springer. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
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