Constance M. Smith
Research Technician

Centre for Wildlife Ecology
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

constans@sfu.ca
Phone: 778-782-5618
FAX: 778-782-3496
Despite the fact that a glimpse of my desk would send Martha into spasms, I have been helping to keep the Centre for Wildlife Ecology (in current and previous guises) organized and on track for the past 20 years!   (That is way scary).  Permits of all persuasions, band schedules, equipment inventory (a.k.a. "Who's got the telescope?"), and data mashing and management all fall in my court.  In my spare time (?!) I have collaborated with my husband, Dov Lank, on a long-term project studying the behaviour, ecology and genetics of the Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), a lekking shorebird with a dimorphism in male breeding behaviour.
Academic Training

BSc, 1976, Cornell University , Section of Neurobiology and Behaviour

 MSc, 1983, Ohio State University , Dept. of Zoology, Animal Behaviour

Presentations

CM Smith and CM Smith.  2002.  Strait of Georgia , British Columbia - wintering area for Harlequin Ducks that breed throughout the Pacific Northwest .  North American Sea Duck Conference and Workshop, Victoria , BC .  Poster.

DB Lank and CM Smith.  1999.  Do resident and satellite Ruffs have dimorphic wintering strategies?  American Ornithologists' Union Annual Meeting, Cornell University , Ithaca , NY .  Poster.

CM Smith, DB Lank and T Burke.  1991.  Polyandry in a lek mating system:  strategy or epiphenomenon in Ruffs?  American Ornithologists' Union Annual Meeting, McGill University , Montreal , Quebec . Poster.
Publications

Lank, D.B., C.M. Smith, O. Hanotte, A. Ohtonen, S. Bailey and T. Burke.  2002.  High frequency of polyandry in a lek mating system.  Behav. Ecol. 13:209-215.

Smith, CM.  2001.  Master database for Harlequin Ducks in Strait of Georgia , British Columbia .  Histrionics 3:4.

Smith, CM.  2001.  Update on research at the Centre for Wildlife Ecology, Simon Fraser University , Burnaby , BC . Picoides 14:12-15.

Lank, D.B., C.M. Smith, O. Hanotte, T. Burke and F. Cooke.  1995.  Genetic polymorphism for alternative mating behaviour in lekking male ruff Philomachus pugnax.  Nature 378:59-62.

Lank, D.B. and C.M. Smith.  1992.  Females prefer larger leks: field experiments with ruffs (Philomachus pugnax).  Beh. Ecol. Sociobiol.30:323-329.

Lank, D.B. and C.M. Smith.  1987.  Conditional lekking in ruff (Philomachus pugnax).  Beh. Ecol. Sociobiol. 20:137-145