I am an evolutionary biologist interested in how environmental change alters animal behaviour and whether animal behaviour can aid or hinder adaptation to environmental change. My research integrates behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, ecophysiology, and developmental biology. Some major themes in my work are reproductive behaviour (mating and parental care), social interactions, and phenotypic plasticity. Over the course of my academic career, I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of study species in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. These projects have included observational studies, fieldwork, multi-generational laboratory experiments, and molecular techniques.
NEWS
January 2020 ― New paper in Functional Ecology on metabolic rate evolution in different thermal environments
January 2020 ― Anais Baillet, a visiting student from University of Rennes, has joined the lab! For the next few months, she will be working on a project looking at the effects of temperature on mating behaviour
December 2019 ― Two fully funded PhD studentships are available in my lab for an October 2020 start date (click here for more details)
November 2019 ― I gave an invited seminar at The James Hutton Institute
November 2019 ― I gave an invited seminar at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I was visiting Prof Alison Bell's lab to learn some new neurogenomic methods
October 2019 ― I gave an invited seminar at University of Edinburgh
October 2019 ― I have joined University of Aberdeen as a Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Conservation!
September 2019 ― New preprint on metabolic adaptation to elevated temperatures in threespine sticklebacks
August 2019 ― I attended the European Society for Evolutionary Biology Meeting in Turku, Finland, where I gave a talk on the effects of temperature on social behaviour and organised a symposium on sexual selection and reproductive strategies
August 2019 ― New paper in Evolution & Development on how phenotypic plasticity can initiate developmental bias