Océane Da Cunha

Research Interests

I am a herpetologist with broad research interests in behavioral ecology, evolution, and conservation. Reptiles have always been my favorite group of animals. The more I learned about them, the more I realized how much remains to be discovered about their lives. This curiosity ultimately led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology, followed by an M.S. in ecophysiology, ethology, and ecology. I encountered my first rattlesnake in the wild during my M.S. thesis, while investigating the spatial ecology of timber rattlesnakes. My M.S. project sparked a lasting fascination with rattlesnakes that led me to pursue a Ph.D. studying the behavioral ecology of western diamond-backed rattlesnakes.

I recently joined the PERL Lab to work on Project RattleCam, where I continue to investigate questions surrounding rattlesnake behavioral ecology. I am particularly interested in questions related to animal personality, camouflage, sociality, and responses to anthropogenic stressors. Through Project RattleCam, I also aim to develop new tools for studying the behavior of free-ranging animals, including approaches that can help identify individuals and quantify their behavior from remote camera observations. When I am not doing research, you can usually find me hiking with my two dogs, Darwin and Naia, fishing, or playing video games.