Biography
I graduated as a zoologist with a BA(Hons) in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge in 1994. I briefly dabbled in the world of population genetics, doing a masters degree with Prof Bryan Clarke at the University of Nottingham on the maintenance of prey polymorphisms due to frequency dependent selection by avian predators. Heading back to Cambridge, I obtained my PhD under the supervision of Dr Adrian Friday, looking at the effect of phylogenetic accuracy on comparative studies, concentrating on life-history evolution in mammals and, in particular, the order Insectivora. After graduating in 2000 I worked as Science Co-ordinator for The Charles Darwin Trust, before returning to research in 2002. I initially came to the University of Melbourne for a year to work with Prof Mark Elgar on a Royal Society Travelling Research Fellowship, looking at pheromone evolution in bark beetles. I then spent two years (2003-2005) at James Cook University in Townsville as an ARC Research Associate with Prof Chris Johnson, looking at the macroecology of Australian land birds and in particular explaining patterns of abundance and range size. I returned to Melbourne in 2005 to take up a ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship on pheromone evolution in insects.
My research explores how the enormous diversity of pheromones used by insects has evolved. The majority of insects use olfactory communication in a wide range of behavioural scenarios, but it is remarkable that the chemical composition of pheromones can differ greatly, even between very closely-related species. I use phylogenetic comparative approaches to try and describe the evolutionary processes that account for these differences in various groups of insects (mostly beetles, moths and flies). In particular I am testing the hypothesis that chemical signals that are important in species recognition and isolation diverge more rapidly than chemical signals that are not so specific. Currently I am trying to understand the ecological factors that underlie why some species appear to produce more complex pheromones (i.e. multi-component pheromones, or complex chemical structures) than others. This complexity may be related to function of the pheromone (e.g. is it designed to attract mates or warn other individuals), environmental constraints or sympatric interactions with other closely-related species.
I am also interested in the ecology and evolution of an invasive North American bark beetle, Ips grandicollis, in Australian pine plantations. These beetles use aggregation pheromones to gather in large numbers on cut pine logs, and can be a commercial pest. In addition to understanding more about their reproductive ecology, I am interested in how their pheromone may have evolved in response to having spread throughout Australia in the last 60 years.
I have ongoing research interests in bird macroecology, in particular understanding the environmental factors that underlie differences in abundance and species richness across Australia. One particular question that interests me is explaining why, contrary to expectations, species that inhabit the tropics exist at lower levels of abundance than temperate species.
Aside from biological research, I have an interest in patterns of publication by scientists. I have previously investigated whether having a publication in Nature or Science early in a career is a good predictor of subsequent productivity (it is). Currently I have been looking at differences in quantity and quality of papers produced by men and women scientists, and have shown how current measures of research performance, which focus heavily on quantity, may be biased against women scientists.
Research Expertise and International Linkages
Research Expertise
| Research Interest |
Key Words |
Country of Expertise |
| Pheromone evolution in insects |
Pheromones, signal evolution, chemical communication, ecology |
Australia |
| Macroecology of birds |
Biogeography, distribution, abundance |
Australia |
| Publication trends in science |
Gender issues |
Australia, United Kingdom |
Qualifications, Honours, Fellowships and Other
Awards
Qualifications
| Title |
Institution |
Date Awarded |
Abbreviation |
| Bachelor of Arts (Honours) |
University of Cambridge |
25-Jun-1994 |
|
| Master of Philosophy |
University of Nottingham |
23-Mar-1996 |
|
| Doctor of Philosophy |
University of Cambridge |
22-Jul-2000 |
|
Memberships
| Membership Type |
Membership Body |
Description |
Start Date |
End Date |
| Member |
European Society for Evolutionary Biology |
Member of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology |
01-Jul-2005 |
|
Government Research Classifications
Research Fields, Courses and Discipline Classifications
Socio-Economic Objective Classifications
Grants and Contracts
Research Grants, Contracts and Consultancies awarded to the University of Melbourne as the administering institution (since 2003) as recorded in Themis Agreements.
Grants
| Title |
Role |
Funding Source |
Scheme |
Award Date |
| Pheromone evolution and ecology in insects on intra- and inter-specific scales |
Chief Investigator |
AUST RESEARCH COUNCIL |
Discovery Projects |
01/01/2005 |
Additional Grant and Contract Information
ARC Discovery Project Grant and Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship
Publications
Publications produced at the University of Melbourne and reported in the Annual Publications Collection and 'Research Report' since 2001. The Themis Publications module, released in November 2006, allows additional publications from previous institutions and publications from past years to be entered.
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