CURRICULUM VITAE

 

John Michael Burt

Address:

Box 351525

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington

phone: (206) 543-6870

email: [email protected]

 

Education:

 

B.S., The Evergreen State College, September, 1986

Ph.D., University of Washington, Department of Psychology, December, 1999

 

Grants and Awards:

 

University of Washington Royalty Research Grant. $20000, 1996

Dissertation:

Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Birdsong Communication and Perception:  Field and Laboratory Studies. Advisors: Drs. Eliot A. Brenowitz and Michael D. Beecher, 1996 to 1997

Research Experience:

Research Scientist / Engineer, Psychology Department, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Lab based song tutoring experiment with song sparrows. Developing a Matlab based “virtual tutor” software system to replace traditional tape tutoring paradigm with a more naturalistic and interactive, yet rigorously controlled song learning environment. Young song sparrows “tutees” will be maintained in isolation boxes, where they will have acoustic access to four “virtual tutors” singing from different speakers who interact with one another and with the tutee according to a set of simple rules. The experiment is designed to determine how young birds select the songs they will learn to sing. Supervisor: Michael Beecher, 2003 - 2006

Post-doctoral Associate, Bioacoustics Research Program, Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca New York. Developed 16 channel radio-microphone array hardware and software for recording banded wren song in territorial neighborhoods in Costa Rica. Developed automated analysis system to post-process array recordings. Conducted field playback experiments to test hypotheses about complex song use strategies in banded wrens. Supervisor: Sandy Vehrencamp, 1999 - 2003

Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Field studies of song sparrows. Used song playback experiments and observation of song sparrow males to investigate the function of song sharing and song type matching between neighbors. Advisor: Dr. Michael D. Beecher, 1989 to 1999.

Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Conducted psychophysical experiments on starlings: Psychoacoustic performance following regeneration of cochlear hair cells. Advisors: Drs. Michael D. Beecher and Edwin W Rubel, 1992 to 1995.

Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Laboratory studies of song sparrow song perception. Used operant conditioning to investigate the song perception. Advisor: Dr. Michael D. Beecher, 1991 to 1992.

Professional Societies:

Animal Behavior Society (1986-2006)
Society for Neuroscience (1997-1998)
International Society for Neuroethology (1999)

Pending Publications:

Burt, J.M. (in prep). "Directional playback: a novel method for preventing neighbor interference during playback experiments" will be submitted to Bioacoustics. 

Publications:

Burt, J. M. & Vehrencamp, S. L. (2005). "Dawn chorus as an interactive communication network" in P. K. McGregor (ed) Communication Networks. Cambridge Press, 320-343

Beecher, M. D. & Burt, J. M. (2004). "The role of social interaction in bird song learning" Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 224-228.

Burt, J. M., Bard, S. C., Campbell, S. E. & Beecher, M. D.  (2002)  “Alternative forms of song matching in song sparrows”  Animal Behaviour, 63, 1143-1151.

Burt, J. M., Campbell, S. E. & Beecher, M. D.  (2001). “Song type matching as threat: a test using interactive playback”  Animal Behaviour, 62, 1163-1170

Burt, J. M., Lent, K. L, Beecher, M. D. & Brenowitz, E. A.  (2000).  “Lesions of avian song nucleus lMAN in female canaries affect song perception in an operant task” Journal of Neurobiology, 42, 1-13.

Beecher M. D., Campbell, S. E., Burt, J. M., Hill, C. E. & Nordby, J. C. (2000). “Song type matching between neighbouring song sparrows” Animal Behaviour, 59, 21-27.

Nordby, J. C., Campbell, S. E., Burt, J. M. & Beecher M. D. (2000). “Social influences during song development in the song sparrow: a laboratory experiment simulating field conditions” Animal Behaviour, 59, 1187-1197.

Hill, C. E., Campbell, S. E., Nordby, J. C., Burt, J. M. & Beecher, M. D. (1999). “Song sharing in two populations of song sparrows” Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 46, 341-349.

Marean, G. C., Burt, J., Beecher, M. D. & Rubel, E. W (1998).  Auditory perception following hair cell regeneration in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris):  Frequency and temporal resolution.  Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 103, 3567-3580.

Beecher, M. D., Nordby J. C., Campbell, S. E, Burt, J. M., Hill, C. E. & O'Loghlen, A. O. (1996). "What is the function of song learning in songbirds?" pp. 77-97 in N. Thompson & D. Owings (Eds.), Perspectives in Ethology, Vol. 12: Communication. Plenum.

Marean, G.C., Cunningham, D., Burt, J.M., and Rubel, E.W. (1995) "Regenerated hair cells in the European starling: Are they more resistant to kanamicin ototoxicity than original hair cells?", Hearing Research, 82, 267-276

Beecher, M.D., Campbell, S.E., Burt, J.M. (1994). "Song perception in the song sparrow: Birds classify by song type but not by singer", Animal Behavior, 47, 1343-1351.

Marean, G.C., Burt, J.M., Beecher, M.D., and Rubel, E.W (1993). "Hair cell regeneration in European starling (Sturnus vulgaris): Recovery of pure-tone detection thresholds", Hearing Research, 71, 125-136.

Abstracts:

Burt, J.M. (2000)  “Use of a radio microphone array to study banded wren song interactions at the neighborhood level”, Paper presented at the 140th annual Acoustical Society of America meeting, Newport Beach, California. Abstract in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 108(5, part2):2583

Burt, J.M. (2000)  “Animal sound analysis and playback software: building a software tool useful to field researchers”, Paper presented at the 140th annual Acoustical Society of America meeting, Newport Beach, California.

Burt, J.M., Campbell, S.E., Beecher, M.D.(1999). "Song type matching as threat: an interactive playback test", Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Lewisburg, PA, June.

Burt J.M., Brenowitz E.A., Beecher M.D., Lent K.L. (1998). "Behavioral evidence for the function of the avian song nucleus lMAN", Paper presented at the 5^th annual meeting of the International Society for Neuroethology, San Diego, CA, August.

Burt J.M., Brenowitz E.A., Beecher M.D., Lent K.L. (1997). "Lesions of the Avian Song Nucleus lMAN Affect Song Perception in an Operant Task", Paper presented at the 27^th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, October.

Burt, J.M., Campbell, S.E., Hill, C.E., Nordby, J.C., Beecher, M.D.(1996). "Song type matching and repertoire matching between neighboring song sparrows", Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Flagstaff, AZ, August.

Burt, J.M., Beecher, M.D., Campbell, S.E. (1993). "Song sparrows classify by type but not by singer". Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Seattle, WA, June.

Marean, G.C., Burt, J., Beecher, M.D., and Rubel, E.W (1993). "Hair cell regeneration: Recovery of pure-tone detection thresholds following aminoglycoside ototoxicity in the European starling". Paper presented at the 16th Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, St.Petersburg, FL, February.