Caroline Lesage is a master’s student interested in animal personality, behavioural ecology, human-wildlife conflicts, and conservation. Her research focuses on the influence of otter personality traits on their use of space in anthropogenic landscapes, particularly during foraging activities. Further, she hopes to identify personality traits that are better suited for cohabitation with humans in order to improve human-wildlife coexistence. Her research focuses on a group of otters on Protection Island, British Columbia, which provides an ecologically relevant site to investigate the adaptive implications of animal personality in the context of shared landscapes. Her previous research focused on behavioural correlates of alopecia (hair loss) in a group of captive Japanese macaques at the Granby Zoo in Quebec, Canada.
Caroline is pursuing a MSc in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Turner.
The title of Caroline's thesis is The impact of personality traits on space use in river otters (Lontra canadensis) on Protection Island, British Columbia.
Contact Caroline at carolesage3 AT gmail.com.