As an environmental science undergraduate student, Sarika Sharma (BSc 2024) honed advanced mapping skills. She then used them to become first author on a paper published in the latest edition of Ornithology.

Integrative biology professor Dan Mennill recognized Sharma’s talents and encouraged her to participate in a new project analyzing historic maps of savannah sparrow territories collected by his research team of Kent Island in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick.

Using data collected by Dr. Mennill’s team from 2011 through 2022, Sharma digitized and analyzed maps of the sparrows’ breeding territories and used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to explore which factors influence the size and shape of the birds’ territories.

“I joined this project in the winter of my second year, and I was just so taken by Dr. Mennill’s passion. I applied and received an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award to digitize maps and territories,” she says.

“We explored the effect of age, breeding strategy, population density, and number of neighbours on the size and shape of breeding territories.”

Their dataset consisted of 407 breeding territories belonging to 225 male savannah sparrows sampled over 11 years. They found that several factors contributed to variation in territory size. Older sparrows had larger territories. Males that mated with multiple females had larger territories. And territories were larger when the population was smaller. Furthermore, territories were less circular in shape when males had many neighbours.

“Visually when I was digitizing the territory maps, you could see such a dynamic change between the years,” says Sharma. “Now that we analyzed the territories with GIS, it is clear that the territories are changing for a reason, it is not just random. There is something going on because of social interactions between males.”

She started her mapping training by pursuing the GISc Certificate created by the School of the Environment. The Geographic Information Science (GISc) Certificate teaches how to use spatial technologies through nine courses.

“Through the courses I became more curious. They were tougher courses but at the end of it, I was proud of the work I was producing — GIS has changed my brain and how I think. These courses really paid off and I’m glad I decided to stick with them,” she says.

“Now that I know about the capabilities of GIS, I feel prepared to tackle the big questions, questions that are multi-faceted and would be otherwise impossible or demanding with time.”

Sharma is part of the first cohort to graduate with a GISc certificate. From analyzing maps to working with birds in person, Sharma spent a month on Kent Island this past spring.

“I read about all the methods in previous papers, but this was my first time experiencing them in person. It was so peaceful to be on the island and to know the birds on a personal level. I got to experience the study site beyond the maps and I could watch the territories take shape in real time.”

In Fall 2024, Sharma will begin master’s studies at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, co-supervised by professors Catherine Febria of integrative biology and Karim Malik of the School of the Environment.

“I’m immensely proud of Sarika’s accomplishment, leading our collaborative research team through this GIS study of sparrow territories,” Mennill said. “It is an exceptional achievement for Sarika to publish a first-authored paper in one of the world’s leading ornithological journals. It is a great combination of Sarika’s GIS skills and our long-term field studies of wild birds.”