Animal cognition is defined as the way in which animals perceive and respond to changes in their surrounding environment. It can thus be fundamental to the ability of an animal to respond to environmental change. 

Our focus is on animal cognition research in the wild, where we relate performance on cognitive tests to behaviours of ecological relevance. For example, we determine whether tests of associative learning, hypothesized to be useful for interactions with predators, prey and mates, truly reflect differences in behavioural responses and fitness outcomes among individuals in the wild. 

Our cognition research has both a basic and applied focus. First, we experimentally test for evidence in support of the Social Intelligence Hypothesis for the evolution of cognition. Second, we ground-truth standardized cognitive tests by looking for evidence of their ecological relevance in the wild. Finally, we look at how cognition is impacted by anthropogenic stressors, or how it can mediate the effect of such stressors, and thus how it allows animals to respond to anthropogenic change. 

Our research currently focusses primarily on species of birds and mammals, and we combine behavioural observations with experiments to answer questions about animal cognition in the wild.