Dominique is an Associate Professor in Animal Ecology at the Moreton Bay campus. Dominique's research interests encompass two major avenues of study: 1) The proximate and ultimate sources of selection contributing to the evolution of vocalizations, especially birdsong; and 2) The impact of anthropogenic activities such as urbanization, noise and land use changes on vertebrate populations. Dominique uses a very interdisciplinary and broad-scale approach to investigate these themes, incorporating genetics, bioacoustics, ecology, physiology and even neuroscience.
Dominique also has an interest in Bayesian statistics, ornithological methods and evidence-based university teaching.
Dominique is the Membership Officer for the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, an Associate Editor for the journal Emu: Austral Ornithology and a Subject Editor for the Journal of Avian Biology.
Any students interested in pursuing a potential research project can contact Dominique via email.
Professional memberships
- Australian Bird and Bat Banding Authority A-Class
- Australian Bird Studies Association
- Australasian Ornithologist’s Union
- Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour (Membership Officer)
Research areas
- evolution of birdsong
- noise effects on animal behaviour and development
- urbanisation effects on behaviour and genetics
- ornithological methodology
Teaching areas
Dr Dominique Potvin's specialist areas of knowledge are ornithology, birds, animal behaviour and evolution.
In the news
Love island: Bird’s refusal to leave resort life leads to genetic change
19 Sep 2024A little yellow-and-white bird that prefers to date its mates in an idyllic island lifestyle rather than fly to the mainland to mingle is an example of avian species evolution in action, according to new UniSC research.
Study finds the happy place of the ibis
14 Aug 2024University of the Sunshine Coast researchers have identified the favourite haunts of white ibis – and why they choose them – in a bid to find more effective ways to stop one of Australia’s smelliest and messiest native pests from taking over parks and urban streets.