Hot Birds Research Project
Post-Docs
Dr Marc Freeman
Contact
Marc T Freeman
Department of Zoology & Entomology
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, 0002
South Africa
Email: marcfreeman78@gmail.com
I take immense joy out of searching for and observing animals/plant species that occupy different ecosystems. Birds in particular have intrigued me from a very young age. Some of my earliest memories involve me paging through various bird guides attempting to memorise and learn what makes each species unique. My fascination with birds evolved and grew over time to the point where I became engrossed in attempting to understand how birds interacted with the habitats they occur in as well as with other sympatric species. Fascination grew into a “healthy” obsession and directed me towards my scientific roots of asking questions such as “what influences the occurrence of a species in an area”, “how do disturbance events influence patterns of diversity”, “what environmental pressures drove species to assemble in the way that they are currently and how will this change moving forward”. In light of such curiosity, I decided to embark on a Zoological career to answer these questions more. I have since been privileged to work with and learn from many brilliant-minded people who took the time to train me to address such questions and afforded me the opportunity to be in a position where my passion for birds merged with my professional ambitions.
We have an incredible biosphere, yet we are faced with a myriad of challenges to keep it at a level where it is functional, intact, and connected. Improving our understanding around which factors shape biological communities and how future environmental changes may disrupt or influence the patterns and processes shaping such biological communities will place us in an improved position to better conserve these crucially important systems moving forward.
Research interests
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The composition of natural ecosystems and the processes which maintain these systems form a central interest of mine. For this reason, I pursued a degree in Zoology with a special interest in Ornithology and Ecology. My Honours and Masters degrees’ focused on avian landscape ecology, specifically assessing how anthropogenic landscape transformation affected forest bird assemblages. Avian population dynamics and their responses to disturbances in complex natural systems such as forests, woodlands, deserts etc. fascinate me. However, over time it became apparent that in order to understand the functioning of natural systems, multi-disciplinary approaches are fundamentally important. As such, I pursued a PhD in physiology, specifically, adaptive thermoregulation driven by past and current climatic variability across landscapes. I developed several approaches to quantify and make predictions about how bird assemblages will be shaped by anthropogenically driven changes within systems. I also shed light on previously unknown patterns around maximal body temperature which may influence endothermic vulnerability to climatic changes. My current research now aims to improve our understanding around mechanisms which allow for hyperthermic tolerance to extreme heat exposure with emphasis on molecular biology and heat shock protein synthesis.
Key Publications
Freeman, M.T., Coulson, B., Short, J.C., Ngcamphalala, C.A., Makola, M.O., and McKechnie, A.E. Evolution of avian heat tolerance: the role of atmospheric humidity. Ecology 2024;e4279.
Conradie, S.R., Kearney, M.R., Wolf, B.O., Cunningham, S.J., Freeman, M.T., Kemp, R. and McKechnie, A.E. An evaluation of a biophysical model for predicting avian thermoregulation in the heat. Journal of Experimental Biology 226, jeb245066.
McKechnie, A.E., Freeman, M.T., and Brigham, M. 2023. Avian heterothermy: a review of patterns and processes. Integrative and Comparative Biology
Short, J.C., Freeman, M.T. and McKechnie, A.E. 2022. Respirometry protocols for avian thermoregulation at high air temperatures: stepped and steady-state profiles yield similar results. Journal of Experimental Biology 225: jeb244166.
Freeman, M.T., Czenze, Z.J, Schoeman, K. and McKechnie A.E. 2022. Adaptive variation in the upper limits of avian body temperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 119(26): e2116645119.
Czenze, Z.J., Smit, B., van Jaarsveld, B., Freeman, M.T., and McKechnie, A.E. 2022. Caves, crevices and cooling capacity: roost microclimate predicts heat tolerance in bats. Functional Ecology 36(1): 38-50.
Freeman, M.T., Czenze, Z.J., Kemp R., van Jaarsveld, B., Wolf, B.O. and McKechnie, A.E. 2021. Efficient evaporative cooling and pronounced heat tolerance in an eagle-owl, a thick-knee and a sandgrouse. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 799302.
Kemp, R., Freeman, M.T., van Jaarsveld, B., Czenze, Z.J., Conradie, S.R. and McKechnie, A.E. 2020. Sublethal fitness costs of chronic exposure to hot weather vary between sexes in a threatened desert lark. Emu – Austral Ornithology 120(3): 216-229.
Freeman, M.T., Czenze, Z.J., Schoeman, K. and McKechnie, A.E. 2020. Extreme hyperthermia tolerance in the world’s most abundant wild bird. Scientific Reports 10:13098.
Czenze, Z.J., Kemp, R., van Jaarsveld, B., Freeman, M.T., Smit, B., Wolf, B.O. and McKechnie, A.E. 2020. Regularly-drinking desert birds have greater evaporative cooling capacity and higher heat tolerance limits than non-drinking species. Functional Ecology 34:1589–1600.
Freeman, M.T., Olivier, and P.I., van Aarde, R.J. 2018. Matrix transformation alters species-area relationships in fragmented coastal forests. Landscape Ecology 33(2): 307-322
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Dr Bukola Azaki
Contact
Bukola Azaki
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
University of Cape Town
Private Bag X3
Rondebosch
Email: bukola.braimoh@gmail.com
Bukola has a bachelor’s degree in Zoology and an MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Jos, Jos Nigeria. She graduated with a PhD in Biological Sciences in December 2021 from the University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa. Her PhD thesis was titled ‘The breeding ecology and behavioural adaptations of African Black Oystercatchers in light of climate change’. In this thesis, Bukola explored the adaptations used by the oystercatchers to maximise breeding outcomes despite the challenges posed by climate change and other factors such as limited nesting habitat and nest predation.
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Bukola joined the HBRP as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Associate Professor Susan Cunningham, in 2024. She is currently working on validating a trait-based climate change vulnerability assessment of arid zone birds using SABAP2 data, and aims to provide advice on how such assessments can be made more robust.
Key Publications
2023: Peter Mikula, OldÅ™ich Tomášek, Dušan Romportl, Timothy K Aikins, Jorge E Avendaño, Bukola DA Braimoh-Azaki, Adams Chaskda, Will Cresswell, Susan J Cunningham, Svein Dale, Gabriela R Favoretto, Kelvin S Floyd, Hayley Glover, Tomáš Grim, Dominic AW Henry, Tomas Holmern, Martin Hromada, Soladoye B Iwajomo, Amanda Lilleyman, Flora J Magige, Rowan O Martin, Marina F de A. Maximiano, Eric D Nana, Emmanuel Ncube, Henry Ndaimani, Emma Nelson, Johann H van Niekerk, Carina Pienaar, Augusto J Piratelli, Penny Pistorius, Anna Radkovic, Chevonne Reynolds, Eivin Røskaft, Griffin K Shanungu, Paulo R Siqueira, Tawanda Tarakini, Nattaly Tejeiro-Mahecha, Michelle L Thompson, Wanyoike Wamiti, Mark Wilson, Donovan RC Tye, Nicholas D Tye, Aki Vehtari, Piotr Tryjanowski, Michael A Weston, Daniel T Blumstein, Tomáš Albrecht. Bird tolerance to humans in open tropical ecosystems. Nature communications, 14 (1): 2146
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2023: Braimoh-Azaki, DA Bukola, Susan J. Cunningham and Will Cresswell. Incubation scheduling by African Black Oystercatchers: Effects of weather, tide phase, and time of day. Journal of Ornithology, 164: 139-149.
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2021: Azaki,DA Bukola and Cresswell, Will. Level of local human disturbance and feeding state determines escape behaviour in Eurasian Oystercatchers. Ethology, 127:986–994.
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2018: Braimoh B, Iwajomo S, Wilson M, Chaskda A, Ajang A, Cresswell W. Managing human disturbance: factors influencing flight-initiation distance of birds in a West African nature reserve. Ostrich, 89:59–69.
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Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SujybxIAAAAJ&hl=en
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ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4443-0809
Dr Kyle-Mark Middleton
Contact
Kyle Middleton
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
University of Cape Town
Private Bag X3
Rondebosch
Email: kmiddleton@live.co.za
I am a behavioural ecologist with a keen focus on cooperative breeding, territorial behaviours, and the impacts of environmental factors on species. I completed my PhD at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in 2023, where I investigated how individuals within cooperatively breeding groups contribute to reproduction and territory defence, using southern ground-hornbills as a model species.
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For my postdoctoral research, I am joining Associate Professor Susie Cunningham, Dr Rita Covas, and the Hot Birds Research Project. My research will focus on the deployment of innovative tracking devices to study how southern ground-hornbills navigate their landscape in such a hot environment, and how high temperatures influence their behaviour, ecology and fitness.
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I have been involved with the FitzPatrick Institute’s long-term APNR Ground Hornbill Project (https://apnrgroundhornbillproject.com) for several years and thoroughly enjoy the combination of rigorous research with practical conservation efforts and project management. Alongside this research, I will be using the findings to help the conservation of these charismatic birds, including efforts to recover the population outside of protected areas.
Dr Elena Mariotti
Contact
Elena Mariotti
Department of Zoology & Entomology
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, 0002
South Africa
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​Email: elenamariotti8@gmail.com
Elena began her academic journey in Italy, earning a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. Subsequently, she relocated to South Africa, where she completed an honours degree, a master's degree, and a PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. During her time at Wits, her research focused on large mammal ecology and how these animals use their landscape. Her doctoral thesis, entitled "Quantity discriminatory capacity and choice preference between binary rewards in African elephants," explored how African elephants discriminate between varying quantities of identical food items and make decisions using multiple sensory modalities.
In 2025, Elena became part of the HBRP as a postdoctoral fellow, working under the supervision of Professor Andrew McKechnie and Associate Professor Susan Cunningham. Her current research examines how predation risk and temperature interact to shape the drinking behaviour of birds in the Kalahari Desert, with the aim of better understanding how birds will modify their drinking habits in response to ongoing climate change.
Key Publications
Mariotti, E., Parrini, F., Louw, C. J., Marshal, J. P. (2020). Habitat use by a large herbivore guild in a fenced South African protected area. African Journal of Wildlife Research. 50(1), 86-101, DOI: 10.3957/056.050.0086.
Mariotti, E., Parrini, F., Louw, C. J., Marshal, J. P. (2020). What grass characteristics drive large herbivore feeding patch selection? A case study from a South African grassland protected area. African Journal of Range and Forage Science, 37:4, 286-294, DOI: 10.2989/10220119.2020.1768146.​
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hkG6bTIAAAAJ&hl
