Project
Hi, my name is Zach and I am evolutionary biology PhD student working on meerkat (Suricata suricatta) behavior and demography. I am supervised by Prof. Arpat Ozgul and based at University of Zurich Irchel Campus. I am most interested in studying population dynamics and evolutionary ecology, including behavior, life history traits, space use, movement, cognition, sexual selection, social structures, and much more.
My PhD project will focus on meerkat anti-predator behaviors and inter-group aggressions, as well as how it affects their demography. I am eager to research meerkats as they developed complex anti-predator tactics in response to a myriad of diverse predator threats. In addition, members of the Kalahari Meerkat Project have collected astonishing data since 1993, allowing me to study questions few study sites can answer. As part of my project, I am excited to learn to analyse tri-axial accelerometer data and to further my knowledge of Resource Selection Functions (RSF) and Step Selection Functions (SSF).
Previous to my PhD, I did my MSc in biology at the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada where I studied bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) spatial behavior and population dynamics in response to intense predation by a specialized cougar (Puma concolor) with my supervisor Prof. Fanie Pelletier and Prof. Marco Festa-Bianchet. I specifically investigated whether this predation influenced bighorn sheep’s use of high elevation and their distance to escape terrains. I also wrote a paper on the direct and indirect effects of intense cougar predation on sheep individual fitness.
If you want to read more about my interests and the research I’ve done, feel free to visit my personal website.
CV
- 2024-Present: PhD Student in Ecology, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
- 2021-2024: MSc in Biology, Department of Biology, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- 2021-2023: Graduate Microprogram in Scientific Interactions, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- 2019-2021: BSc in Ecology, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- 2018: AA (Associate’s Degree) in liberal Arts Sciences (Biology Major), Golden West College, California, USA
- 2017: Biology student, West Los Angeles College, California, USA,
- 2017: Biology student, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada
Publications
- Cloutier, Z., M. Festa-Bianchet, F. Pelletier. 2024. “Direct and indirect effects of cougar predation on bighorn sheep fitness”. Ecology 105: 4374 ➤
- Cloutier, Z. Impacts indirects de la prédation par le cougar sur le comportement et le fitness individuel du mouflon d’Amérique. MSc Thesis, Université de Sherbrooke, July 2024 ➤
- Cloutier, Z., L. Brown, M. Festa-Bianchet, F. Pelletier. 2024. “Spatial and group size responses to high predation risk in a large herbivore”. In preparation for Ecosphere, expected submission November 2024