Danai Papageorgiou  - PhD student at Max Planck Institute for Ornithology & University of Konstanz

Recently contributed posts:

• Finding the right Phd program

​​There are some behavioural patterns and characteristics in animal societies that I would wish them to be more widespread in the world of humans. Adopting several stray cats and dogs in Greece, where I grew up, drove me to realise what a good company they can be and how much their lives matter. As a little child with a much older brother, I used to observe carefully his opinions and attitudes and it was him who underlined the high cognitive abilities of other mammals, motivating my passion for nature. Starting in primary school, and for more than 10 years, I was really into dressage. Establishing long-term relationships with three particular horses taught me a lot about animal mental abilities, the beauty and wilderness of nature but also about the economics of the present society.
 
In parallel with the development of my personality and other activities, my interest was attracted by animal behaviour and functionality of ecosystems. Thus, I entered the Department of Biology at the University of Patras, believing though that this was the end of my tendency to mathematics. During my undergraduate and master studies there I found that I could combine these fields.
 
Assisting in research projects, doing voluntary work and studying avian urban diversity grounded my passion for fieldwork.  For my master thesis’ project I spent two months on a Greek remote island, to study the behavioural ecology of a migratory passerine. I really enjoyed everything there, from the hours that I could invest observing birds to the physical tiredness when radio-tracking them for whole days. Additional research experiences in Germany and Denmark led me to conclude that investigating the social lives of wild animals, and especially birds, would not only be a pleasant profession but an overall life content.  I am currently in the Mpala Research Station in Kenya, where I have the chance to follow the movements of my PhD study species, the highly gregarious Vulturine Guineafowl, and live next to the iconic savannah-woodland biodiversity.  My journey continues.