Mark Erno Hauber is an American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and Endowed Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research considers the development of avian recognition systems.

Early life and education

Hauber was born and raised in Hungary. He has said that he always wanted to become an

. He attended high school in Italy, before moving to the United States for college. Hauber was an undergraduate student at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, where he majored in organismal biology. He started focusing on birds, and the differences between the brains of different species. He worked toward his doctorate at the

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he studied

brood parasitic Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its ow ...

cowbirds. After graduating, Hauber moved to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

as a postdoctoral research fellow.

Research and career

In 2003, Hauber moved to New Zealand, where he joined the faculty at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Whilst in New Zealand, he studied psychology, and earned a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

on avian recognition systems. His doctoral thesis for this degree was entitled ''Cognitive ecology of avian recognition systems : studies of brood parasitic and parental taxa''. He returned to the United States in 2009, where he joined the faculty at

Graduate Center of the City University of New York The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...

. Here he oversaw the biopsychology and behavioural neuroscience program. Hauber was appointed to the faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2017. He established the Cowbird Laboratory, which investigates the evolution of recognition systems. For example, Hauber has studied the color and shape of eggs that "host" birds will accept in their nests. He has shown that pointy eggs are more likely to survive being in a bird's cliffside nest. Hauber focused his research on parasitic birds and the impact of climate change. He showed that in unstable climates, distributing eggs amongst a variety of different nests made a species more resilient. Hauber studies the birds that live in tree farms in East

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 38th-most pop ...

Selected publications

* * *

Books

* The Book of Eggs

Personal life

Hauber came out as gay after moving to the United States. He is a member of the grassroots organization

500 Queer Scientists 500 Queer Scientists is a visibility campaign for LGBTQ+ people working in the sciences. Queer scientists submit short descriptions of their lives to the organization; these are manually checked and proof-read before being posted to the group's w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauber, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Cornell University alumni Yale College alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Academic staff of the University of Auckland CUNY Graduate Center faculty American ornithologists Hungarian ornithologists