Contact

Online

Office Hours

Mondays, 2:00-4:30 PM
Wednesdays, 1:30-4:00 PM
By appointment

David Sinn, Ph.D.

Lecturer - Ectopia

I believe that our science should create training opportunities that facilitate the scientific careers of others, while also providing training opportunities for doing science along with our public communities. I say this because I am constantly pursuing opportunities where I can bring together research, training opportunities, and public engagement into my work. If you have ideas on how you’d like to do this, I’d love to hear from you!

Areas of Interest

I am currently pursuing several research projects:
1) Conservation: Amphibian populations have been in sharp decline worldwide. Indeed, amphibians are facing a biodiversity crisis like no other vertebrate group – 41% of their species are classified as currently threatened; 37 species are confirmed extinct since monitoring began in the 1960s. 185 species are currently considered Critically Endangered/Possibly Extinct by the IUCN. Habitat loss, climate change, and infectious disease have contributed in synergistic ways to cause these extreme population declines. I collaborate with other local herpetologists as well as a nationwide USGS working group to perform early monitoring for a novel, infectious, lethal disease (Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, Bsal) currently decimating salamander species in Europe and Asia. Bsal is not known in California yet but what is known is that many of our salamander fauna is susceptible. This work not only establishes early baseline records and monitoring of Bsal, but we are also in the planning stages of a likely captive management and disease epidemiology program.

2) Measurement science: Domestic dogs, due to their olfactory prowess, offer an incredible tool for greatly improving humans’ ability to take conservation actions. Predicting which dogs will fit in which working positions, however, is problematic at scale. This aspect of my work asks fundamental questions about the measurement science behind working dog training programs: How can we create reliable, generalizable, and valid ways of measuring both human and dog behavior in order to maximize the efficiency of using working dogs in conservation?

Research Focus

Previous Research
All of my past research endeavors, at some level, are based on the idea of individual heterogeneity. Some of my past research has demonstrated that personality traits related to growth (e.g., boldness) may be governed by condition-dependent developmental processes that promote phenotypes based on current and recent historical environmental conditions (Sinn, et al. 2008; Fratkin, et al. 2013; van Oers &Sinn 2013). This is in contrast to other traits related to social skills (e.g., conspecific aggression), that appear to be more heavily influenced by genotype-dependent processes (Sinn et al. 2001; van Oers & Sinn 2010; Sinn, et al. 2006). I have also studied how phenotypic plasticity can covary with evolutionary fitness (Fratkin et al. 2013; Sinn et al. 2006; Sinn et al. 2008; Sinn et al. 2010). Theoretically, specifying modes of development for personality in predictive models could significantly alter the rate at which populations respond to disturbance (such as human conflict or habitat loss in animals), but the extent of these effects is currently unknown.

Past applied research
My work with orphaned Tasmanian devils was able to show that exploratory behavior was a strong predictor of translocation success (Sinn et al., 2014); translocation is now a major component of the management ‘tool box’ currently being used by the Save the Tasmanian devil program to combat devil facial tumour disease. My work with odor-detection dogs was designed to help optimize a US detection dog breeding and development center, based on the observation that working dogs have personalities too that determine a dogs’ work performance (Sinn, et al. 2010; Wilsson & Sinn, 2013; McGarrity et al. 2015). For working dogs, one of the critical aspects of current research is identifying behavior relevant to working-life conditions and figuring out how to measure it well. My past working dog research has shown that when watching the same dog, people may not agree strongly in terms of what the dog is doing (McGarrity et al. 2015; Fratkin et al. 2015). Experts in the field tend to be very good at generally picking puppies that end up being good working dogs as adults (Sinn et al. 2010; Wilsson & Sinn 2013; McGarrity et al. 2015), but the field as yet has been unable to derive reliable quantitative measures of behavior that predict adult behavior based on observations during puppyhood (Fratkin et al. 2013). Understanding mechanisms of disease transmission in humans and other animals is challenging, and few demonstrations exist of how social contact networks relate to observed disease spread; this is especially the case for parasites like ticks, where infestation occurs when different individuals share the same space (but with a time-lag, because the tick needs to molt or the female needs to hatch her larvae). As part of a larger long-term study, my most recent research has included leading a team of undergraduates and graduate students in an attempt to catch and study all adult lizards in a single study population located in South Australia. We have been documenting lizard space use, social interactions, and movement, and along with measures of size, habitat resources, aggression and boldness, foraging, overnight refuge use, and regular tick counts in order to predict tick transmission. In addition, we added
genetically unique tick larvae to our study population and then collected later life stages. Our field site is part of a larger 32-year-long lizard/tick survey. Our work on this system is just now starting to come out in publication.

Education

Ph.D. in Ecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS
M.Sc. in Comparative Psychology, Portland State University, Portland, OR
B.Sc. in Marine Biology, Texas A & M, Galveston, TX

Courses Taught

ESM 308 - Ectopia
WLDF 210 - Intro to Wildlife Conservation & Administration
WLDF 309 - Environmental Ethics
WLDF 311 - Wildlife Techniques
WLDF 495 - Senior Project

Publications & Presentations

Peer-reviewed journal articles
Albery, G.F., Becker, D.J., Firth, J.A., … Sinn, D.L., … et al. (2025). Density-dependent structuring within and across
wild animal systems. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02843-z

Payne, E., Sinn, D.L., Spiegel, O., Leu, S.T., Wohlfeil, C.K., Godfrey, S.S., Gardner, M.G., & Sih, A. (2025). Personality, space use, and networks directly and indirectly explain tick infestation in a wild population of lizards. Ecological Monographs 95(1): e70000. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.70000.

Spiegel, O., Michelangeli, M., Sinn, D.L., Payne, E., Klein, J.-R. V., Kirkpatrick, J. Harbusch, M., & Sih, A. (2024).
Resource manipulation reveals interactive phenotype-dependent foraging in free-ranging lizards. Journal of Animal
Ecology, 93(8): 1108-1122. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14128.

Payne, E., Spiegel, O., Sinn, D.L., Leu. S.T., Gardner, M.G., Godfrey, S.S., Wohlfeil, C., & Sih, A. (2022). Intrinsic traits, social context, and local environment shape home range size and fidelity of sleepy lizards. Ecological
Monographs, 92: e1519. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1519.

Michelangeli, M., Payne, E., Spiegel, O., Sinn, D.L., Leu, S.T., Gardner, M.G., & Sih, A. (2021). Personality,
spatiotemporal ecological variation and resident/explorer movement syndromes in the sleepy lizard. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91: 210-223.

Noonan, M., Martinez-Garcia, R., Davis, G., Crofoot, M., Kays, R., Hirsch, B., Caillaud, D., Payne, E., Sih, A., Sinn,
D.L., Spiegel, O., Fagan, W., Fleming, C., & Calabrese, J. (2021). Estimating encounter location distributions from
animal tracking data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12: 1158-1173.

Payne, E., Sinn, D.L., Spiegel, O., Leu, S.T., Gardner, M.G., Godfrey, S.S., Wohlfeil, C., Sih, A. (2021). Consistent after
all: Behavioural repeatability in a long-lived lizard across a six-year field study. Animal Behaviour, 174: 263-267.

Payne, E., Sinn, D.L., Spiegel, O., Leu, S.T., Wohlfeil, C., Godfrey, M., Gardner, M., & Sih, A. (2020). Consistent
individual differences in ecto-parasitism of a long-lived lizard host. Oikos, 129:1061-1071. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/oik.06670

Sih, A., Sinn, D.L., Patricelli, G.L. (2019). On the importance of individual differences in behavioural skill. Animal
Behaviour, 155:307-317.

Munch K.L., Wapstra E., Thomas S., Fisher M., Sinn D.L. (2019). What are we measuring? Novices agree amongst
themselves (but not always with experts) in their assessment of dog behaviour. Ethology, 125:203–211.
https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12846

Sih, A., Ligocki, I., Munson, A., & Sinn, D.L. (2017). Evolutionary behavioral ecology approaches to integration in thestudy of animal personalities. European Journal of Personality, 31, 568-569.

McGarrity, M.E., Sinn, D.L., Thomas, S.G., Marti, C.N., & Gosling, S.D. (2016). Comparing the predictive validity of
behavioral codings and behavioral ratings in a working-dog breeding program. Applied Animal Behaviour Science,
179, 82-94.

Fratkin, J.L., Sinn, D.L., Thomas, S., Hilliard, S., Olson, Z., & Gosling, S.D. (2015). Do you see what I see? Can non-experts with minimal training reproduce expert ratings in behavioral assessments of working dogs? Behavioural
Processes, 110, 105-116. *invited article to special issue of Behavioural Processes on canine science

McEvoy, J., While, G.M., Sinn, D.L., Carver, S., & Wapstra, E. (2015). Behavioural syndromes and structural and
temporal consistency of behavioural traits in a social lizard. Journal of Zoology, 296, 58-66.

McGarrity, M.E., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2015). Which personality dimensions do puppy tests measure? A
systematic procedure for categorizing behavioral assays. Behavioural Processes, 110, 117-124. *invited article to
special issue of Behavioural Processes on canine science.

Rocznik, D., Sinn, D.L., Thomas, S., Gosling, S.D. (2015). Criterion analysis and content validity for standardized
behavioral tests in a detector-dog breeding program. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 60, S213-S221, doi:
10.1111/1556-4029.12626.

Sinn, D.L., Cawthen, L., Jones, S.M., Pukk, C., & Jones, M.E. (2014). Boldness towards novelty and translocation
success in captive-raised, orphaned Tasmanian devils. Zoo Biology, 33, 36-48.

Bensky, M. K., Gosling, S. D., & Sinn, D. L. (2013). The world from a dog’s point of view: a review and synthesis of
dog cognition research. In H. Jane Brockmann, T.J. Roper, M. Naguib, J.C. Mitani, L.W. Simmons & L. Barrett (Eds.), Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 45. Elsevier Inc., 209–406.

Fratkin, J., Sinn, D.L., Patall, E.A., & Gosling, S.D. (2013). Personality consistency in dogs: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE8(1): e54907. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054907.

McEvoy, J., While, G.M., Sinn, D.L., & Wapstra, E. (2013). The role of size and aggression in intrasexual male
competition in a social lizard species, Egernia whitii. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 67, 79-90.

Wilsson, E. & Sinn, D.L. (2012). Are there differences between measurement methods? A comparison of the predictive validity of two ratings methods in a working dog program. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 141, 158-172.

Sinn, D.L., Gosling, S.D., & Hilliard, S. (2010). Personality and performance in military working dogs: Reliability and
predictive validity of behavioral tests. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 127, 51-65.

Sinn, D.L., Moltschaniwskyj, N.A., Wapstra, E., & Dall, S.R.X. (2010). Are behavioral syndromes invariant?
Spatiotemporal variation in shy/bold behavior in squid. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 64, 693-702.

While, G.M., Isaksson, C., McEvoy, J., Sinn, D.L., Komdeur, J., Wapstra, E., & Groothuis, T.G.G. (2010). Repeatable intra-individual variation in plasma testosterone concentration and its sex-specific link to aggression in a social lizard. Hormones & Behavior, 58, 208-213.

McCallum, H., Jones, M., Hawkins, C., Hamede, R., Lachish, S., Sinn, D.L., Beeton, N., & Lazenby, B. (2009).
Transmission dynamics of Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease may lead to disease-induced extinction. Ecology,
90, 3379-3392.

Wapstra, E., Uller, T., Sinn, D.L., Olsson, M., Mazurek, K., Joss, J., & Shine, R. (2009). Climate effects on offspring
sex ratio in a viviparous lizard. Journal of Animal Ecology, 78, 84-90.

While, G.M., Sinn, D.L., & Wapstra, E. (2009). Female aggression predicts mode of paternity in a social lizard.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 276, 2021-2029. *this paper was selected for the 2009 Faculty of
1000 Biology and evaluated by Ellen Ketterson Anderson, R.C., Sinn, D.L., & Mather, J.A. (2008). Drilling localization on bivalve prey by Octopus rubescens Berry, 1953 (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae). The Veliger, 50, 326-328.

McEvoy, J., Sinn, D.L., & Wapstra, E. (2008). Know thy enemy: the response of a small native mammal to predators of different co-existence history. Austral Ecology, 33, 922-931.

Sinn, D.L. (2008). Patterns of activity cycles in juvenile Octopus bimaculoides (Pickford & McConnaughey, 1949).
Americal Malacological Bulletin, 24: 65-69.

Sinn, D.L., Gosling, S.D., & Moltschaniwskyj, N.A. (2008). Development of shy/bold behaviour in squid: context-
specific phenotypes associated with developmental plasticity. Animal Behaviour, 75: 433-442.

Sinn, D.L., While, G.M., & Wapstra, E. (2008). Maternal care in a social lizard: links between female aggression and offspring fitness. Animal Behaviour, 76, 1249-1257.

Anderson, R.C., Mather, J.A., & Sinn, D.L. (2008). Octopus senescence: forgetting how to eat clams. The Festivus,
40: 55-57.

Moltschaniwskyj, N.A., Hall, K., Lipinski, M., Marian, J.E.A.R., Nishiguchi, M., Sakai, M., Shulman, D., Sinclair, B.,
Sinn, D.L., Staudinger, M., van Gelderen, R., Villanueva, R., & Warnke, K. (2007). Ethical and welfare considerations when using cephalopods as experimental animals. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 17: 455-476.

Sinn, D.L., Apiolaza, L.A., & Moltschaniwskyj, N.A. (2006). Heritability and fitness-related consequences of squid
personality traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19: 1437-1447. *New Scientist “Favourite paper titles”, 02 Sept.
06.

Sinn, D.L. & Moltschaniwskyj, N.A. (2005). Personality traits in dumpling squid (Euprymna tasmanica): context-
specific traits and their correlation with biological characteristics. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 119: 99-110.

Sinn, D.L., Perrin, N.A., Mather, J.A., & Anderson, R.C. (2001). Early temperamental traits in an octopus (Octopus
bimaculoides). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 115: 351-364.

Anderson, R.C. & Sinn, D.L. (2000). Aestivation of Cerion uva (Linnaeus, 1758) on Bonaire. Of Sea and Shore, 23:
22-24. Book chapters van Oers, K. & Sinn, D.L. (2013). The quantitative and molecular genetics of animal personality. In “Animal Personalities: Behavior, Physiology, and Evolution”, edited by C. Carere & D. Maestripieri. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 149-200. *peer-reviewed book chapter van Oers K. & Sinn D.L. (2011). Towards a basis for the phenotypic gambit: advances in the evolutionary genetics of animal personality. In: Inoue-Murayama M, Kawamura S, Weiss A (eds) From Genes to Behavior: Social Structures, Personalities, Communication by Color. Springer, New York, 165-184.

Reports
Sinn, D., & Philips, A. (2015). Tasmanian Frog and Chytrid monitoring 2014: sound recording, capture-mark-
recapture and Chytrid status. NRM South and Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Environment,
Hobart, ISBN: 978-1-921082-01-6. 53 pgs.

Sinn, D.L., Fratkin, J.L., Bensky, M., McGarrity, M.E., Lee, K.M., & Gosling, S.D. (2014). Tasks 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7
Combined Report – Task analyses to define characteristics of successfully deployed detector dogs. US Department
of Homeland Security, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and
Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 30 pgs.

Sinn, D.L., McGarrity, M.E., Lee, K.M., DeBono, S., Fratkin, J., Bensky, M., Banks, S., & Gosling, S.D. (2013). Task 4.6 Report – REDCap database development and handbook. US Department of Homeland Security, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of
Behavior and Temperament”. 57 pgs.

McGarrity, M.E., Sinn, D.L., Marti, C.N., & Gosling, S.D. (2013). Task 5.5 Report - Comparison of coding and rating
approaches to predicting detector-dog selection for training. US Department of Homeland Security, Contract
HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement
of Behavior and Temperament”. 46 pgs.

Sinn, D.L. (2013). Task 8.4 Report - Maternal effects in dogs: A review and prospectus for working dog breeding
programs. US Department of Homeland Security, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of
Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 43pgs.

McGarrity, M.E., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Task 7.2 Report - Review of puppy temperament testing
procedures with special focus on applications for detector dog programs. US Department of Homeland Security,
Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through
Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 63pgs.

McGarrity, M.E., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Supplemental Report 2: Descriptive statistical analysis of
behavioral assessment data from TSA-CBDC stimulation sessions and TSA-CTES drive building exercises and final
evaluations. US Department of Homeland Security, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of
Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 50pgs.

DeBono, S., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Task 5.2 Report – Reliability of a new subjective rating instrument
used to measure odor-detection dog behavior. US Department of Homeland Security, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-
00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior
and Temperament”. 31pgs.

Sinn, D.L., Bensky, M.K., DeBono, S., Fratkin, J.L., McGarrity, M.E., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Task 5.4 Report:
Recommendations for improvements to currently existing behavioral measurement scales. US Department of
Homeland Security, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and
Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 10pgs.

Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Task 3.4 Report - Personality dimensions in behavioral measurements taken
during TSA-CBDC standardized tests: Interim update. US Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: "Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament&quot. 15pgs.

Rocznik, D., & Sinn, D.L. (2012). Supplemental Report 1: Construct and target validity of TSA-CBDC standardized
test behaviours based on a survey given to detector dog handlers. US Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: "Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament". 59pgs.

Jones, A.C., Sinn, D.L., Gosling, S.D., & Hilliard, S.J. (2012). Military Working Dog Field-Analysis Questionnaire:
Handler evaluations of potentially valuable and potentially detrimental MWD behavioral traits. NSF Award Number
0731216, “Improving the effectiveness of explosive detection dogs through temperament-based selections”.
47pgs.

Chester, E.M., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Task 6.6 Report – Psychophysical review: Techniques examining
the physiological bases of behavior. US Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate,
Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: "Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through
Measurement of Behavior and Temperament". 44pgs.

Bensky, M.K., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2012). Task 6.3 Report – A review of canine cognition and applications for detection dog programs. US Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate, Contract
HSHQDC-10-C-00085: "Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament". 95pgs.

Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2011). Task 3.3 Report - Confirmatory factor analysis of personality dimensions
previously identified in the TSA-CBDC behavioral test data. US Department of Homeland Security, Science &
Technology Directorate, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection
and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 17pgs.

Sinn, D.L., Hixon, G., & Gosling, S.D. (2011). Tasks 2.2, 2.3, and 3.2 Combined Report – Exploratory factor analysis, internal validity of aggregate behavior scales, and test-retest correlations in the TSA-CBDC behavioral test data. US
Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving
the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 72pgs.

Jones, A.C., Sinn, D.L., Gosling, S.D., & Hilliard, S.J. (2011). Military working dog field-analysis questionnaire: An
evaluation of MWD training and real-world utilization. NSF Award Number 0731216, “Improving the effectiveness
of explosive detection dogs through temperament-based selections”. 100 pgs.

Fratkin, J.L., Sinn, D.L., Patall, E.A., & Gosling, S.D. (2011). Task 5.1 Report – Identification of relevant personality
trait consistency in dogs: a meta-analysis. US Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate, Contract HSHQDC-10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament”. 60 pgs.

Fratkin, J.L., Sinn, D.L., & Gosling, S.D. (2011). Task 2.4 Report - Establishment of procedures for testing inter- and
intra-rater reliability. US Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, Contract HSHQDC-
10-C-00085: “Improving the Effectiveness of Detector-Dog Selection and Training through Measurement of Behavior and Temperament.”

Sinn, D.L., Macnab, K., & Sharman, A. (2010). Save the Tasmanian devil free-range project, annual report January-
December 2009: Initial results from the first year’s breeding season and recommendations for future planning. Save the Tasmanian devil Program, Hobart, TAS, Australia, ISBN: 978-7246-6528-0.

Sinn, D.L., Fabian, T.J., Hawkins, C., Lazenby, B., Hume, F., Hamede, R., Wapstra, E. (2010). Wounding patterns in
wild populations of Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii): Implications for predicting DFTD impacts and
management of devils in captivity. Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, Hobart, TAS, Australia, ISBN:0724665366.

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