Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation
Research Cluster
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Our research spans a spectrum from studies of evolutionary processes at a molecular and genetic level, through behaviour and ecology to applied conservation. The synergies between these research areas are clear; for example by understanding the selection pressures that act upon gene frequencies we may better predict the impacts of environmental change on organisms and communities. Our study systems include insects (especially flies, bees and crickets), plants (e.g. tropical and temperate forest trees, Solanaceae), birds and bats.
Group Leaders
Prof Dave Goulson (Professor of Ecology)
Behavioural ecology; Population genetics; Conservation; Bumblebees.
Dr Phil Wookey (Reader)
Environmental change and terrestrial ecosystems; Biodiversity and ecosystem processes; Land-atmosphere feedbacks and interactions.
Dr Kate Abernethy (Research Fellow) |
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Dr Luc Bussière (Lecturer)
Life history allocation: Mate choice; Natural and sexual selection; Quantitative genetics; Senescence; Sex-role reversal; Sexual advertisement; Sexual dimorphism.
Dr Andre Gilburn (Lecturer)
Sexual conflict; Sexual selection; Evolution of mating systems; Cryptic female mate choice; Life history evolution; Seaweed flies.
Dr Alistair Jump (Lecturer)
Plant responses to climate change; Determinants of species distributions at global and local scales;
Evolutionary responses to range shifts and habitat fragmentation;
Forest conservation and sustainability.
Dr Jacqueline Nairn (Lecturer)
Immune complexes in insects; Activation of phenoloxidase; Regulation of human bisphosphoglycerate mutase.
Dr Kirsty Park (Lecturer)
Invasive alien species; Animal ecology & conservation; Human-wildlife conflict; Exposure of vertebrates to endocrine disruptors.
Dr Matt Tinsley (Lecturer)
Pathogen evolution; Host-parasite coevolution; Invertebrate immune defence; Insect sex-ratios; Wolbachia; Invertebrate sexually transmitted disease; Arctic insect ecology.
Dr Mario Vallejo-Marin (Lecturer)
The role of adaptation in the evolution of plant reproductive strategies.
Research Staff
Dr Ben Darvill - ecology and conservation genetics of rare bumblebees
Dr Kathryn Jeffery -
conservation of great apes
Dr Olivier Lepais - population and landscape genetics
Dr Jeroen Minderman - micro wind-turbines and wildlife
Research Students
Liam Cavin -
Oakwoods for the future: vulnerability and sustainability of Atlantic oakwoods in a changing environment
Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor - Bat conservation in agricultural landscapes
Danielle MacKenzie -
Ageing and immunity in Drosophila melanogaster
Heather McCallum -
Breeding Waders in Upland Grassland Systems: Ecology and Economics
Lynne Osgathorpe - Reconciling ecology and socio-economics to conserve the great yellow bumblebee
Jenny Owen -
Determinants of field layer vegetation in plantation restocks: consequences for black grouse conservation
Nicola Redpath - Machair management for the great yellow bumblebee
Ellen Rotheray -
Population dynamics, ecology and management of the BAP species, the pine and the aspen hoverfly
Rebecca Rowe - Biodiversity implications of short-rotation coppice
Penelope Whitehorn - The role of parasites in driving declines of bumblebees
Honorary Staff
John Calladine (/BTO Scotland) - movements of farmland passerines; upland birds and implactions of land management.
Dr Liz Humphreys (BTO Scotland) - effects of woodland management practices on birds; urban and suburban development; seabird foraging ecology and energetics.
Dr Fiona Maisels (African Forest Ecology Group)
Dr Caroline Tutin (African Forest Ecology Group)
Prof Jeremy Wilson (Head of Research, RSPB Scotland)
Dr Chris Wernham (Honorary Lecturer/ Senior Research Ecologist and Head of BTO Scotland) - avian demography; migration and movements; raptor monitoring.
Dr Lee White (African Forest Ecology Group)
