Megan Reinertsen Ross, Ph.D.
Hope B. McCormick Curator of Birds

Megan Ross received her B.S. in biology and psychology from James Madison University in 1996. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999 and 2001, respectively. Ross’ master's thesis evaluated the role that captive husbandry plays in pairing success in Chilean flamingos. Her dissertation research focused on the effects of ultraviolet light on bird behavior. All of her research was conducted at Lincoln Park Zoo. 

As the Hope B. McCormick Curator of Birds, Ross is responsible for creating the collection plan for bird species at the zoo, performing noninvasive behavioral research, and overseeing the bird department’s operations. She is on the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Avian Scientific Advisory Group Steering Committee, is coordinator for the Guam rail SSP and the vice-coordinator of the cinereous vulture SSP. Her research includes topics in applied animal behavior, such as cinereous vulture behavioral profiling, piping plover captive husbandry research, evaluation of rockhopper penguin behavioral enrichment, determining factors relating to Chilean flamingo breeding success, evaluating reintroduction success in Guam rails, evaluating risk of transferring mycobacteriosis positive birds to other institutions and to the wild, and improving avian welfare through the development of new operant-conditioning techniques.