Research interests:

My research focuses on the role of different sensory systems required for animal navigation. Specifically, I address the questions how magnetic and olfactory senses help animals finding their geographic position relative to their (e.g. migratory) destination and how the animal magnetic sense works. For the latter I study the avian magnetic sense but plan to extend a list of model species to include some fish and insect species.

My current Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship project based at Bangor University (UK) aims to further study a recently discovered disturbing effect of anthropogenic electromagnetic fields on the avian magnetic compass sense (see below).

My main model systems are both migratory songbirds and homing pigeons. I am now working towards establishing an international and interdisciplinary consortium of researchers to make a significant progress in demystifying the animal magnetic sense through extending model systems (include migratory butterflies and fish species besides historically popular birds) and make use of state-of-the-art research methods.

I am also enthusiastic in development and application of advanced telemetry and bio-logging techniques for movement ecology and bird navigation. For my Russian Science Foundation grant (see below), we deploy and use a network of automated radio-tracking towers to study movements of birds and other animals (e.g. migrating dragonflies - in collaboration with Dr Myles Menz, Max Plank Institute of Animal Behaviour, Germany) in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea. This is our work towards building a part of the MOTUS system in Europe (see more about MOTUS here https://motus.org, the map of European radio receivers is here). We recently deployed Vildehaye radio tower at Rybachy. Vildehaye is the result of the ATLAS project for high-throughput wildlife radio-tracking system developed by Minerva Centre for Movement Ecology (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel). I also have also used light-level geologgers for great reed warblers tracking, and I am now using GPS tracking for homing pigeons.

I would be happy to consider any suggestions for collaboration.