I am currently the Director of Studies for the Department of Zoology.

I am the course coordinator for the MSc courses Animal Social and Sexal Behaviour and Current Debates in Animal Behaviour. I also lecture on the courses Ecology I and Marine Fish Biology and Fisheries.

Research in my group is currently focused on:

THE EVOLUTION REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOURS

Females mate with multiple males in most animal species, which has important evolutionary consequences. We are using phylogenetic comparative analyses to explore how variation in female promiscuity influences the evolution of male sexual behaviours and traits. This work focuses on sharks and rays, bony fish, social insects, marine mammals, and mammals generally. We explore how co-evolutionary dynamics between males and females influence the evolution of testes, sperm, genitals and female remating rates and assess trade-offs at the macroevolutionary scale.

SPERM AND POLLEN EVOLUTION

Competition and choice for reproductive opportunities doesn't end at mating. Our lab focuses on how sperm compeition shapes sperm behaviour, how sperm respond to chemoattractants released by the eggs (or surrounding cells), and how sperm-female interactions influence sperm behaviour. This work spans the animal tree of life, including work on marine invertebrates, fish and humans. We have also recently expanded our focus to examine pollen evolution in flowering plants.

TRADE-OFFS AMONG SEXUAL BEHAVIOURS AND TRAITS

Animals must balance their investment in behaviours and traits important before and after mating. My lab tries to understand how animals balance the competing demands of sex. We address this question experimentally in the lab using halfbeak fishes as a model. Halfbeaks are small, live-bearing freshwater fish from Southeast Asia that are easy to keep and breed in the lab. These fish show overt competitive behaviours, display sexual ornaments and multiple mating is common, making them an ideal model for assessing trade-offs among sexually selected traits.

THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL COLOURATION

Animals display an enormous variation in colouration and patterns, which is shaped by both natural and sexual selection. Our lab examines both of these selective forces to gain a better understanding of why animals look the way they do. We combine phylogenetic comparative studies with experimental approahces using our lab populations of bamboo sharks and halfbeak fish. 

EDITORIAL POSITIONS

2014-2018: Editor for Behavioral Ecology 
2011-2015: Board of Reviewing Editors for Journal of Evolutionary Biology

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

For a complete list of publications plase see my Google Scholar page.

For a complete list of publications plase see my Google Scholar page.