Barbara Francik

Barbara is a recent graduate of Oxford, completing her Integrated Masters in Biology (MBiol) on the acoustic begging behaviour of Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) chicks. Since then, she has been working as a research assistant at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre (University College London), investigating the role of the basal ganglia in reinforcement learning, habit formation, and action selection. Barbara’s academic interests lie in animal behaviour and ecology, and she has a particular passion for birds. She is eager to study the unique ecology of Svalbard and gain fieldwork experience in the Arctic environment. In her free time, Barbara is likely to be found birdwatching, hiking or painting.