Research interests

Scientific projects

My scientific interests are staged against a varied backdrop of ecology, ethology, evolution and conservation, but my focal areas are conservation physiology and behavioural ecology, with particular emphasis on life-history trade-offs between major determinants of life histories. Both conservation physiology and behavioural ecology are at the nexus between the above disciplines. They are concerned with an understanding of proximate (‘immediate, causal’) as well as ultimate (‘evolutionary, historical’) explanations for physiological adaptations, behaviour and sociality in animal societies.

In this framework I am working on a diverse set of topics including patterns of vigilance behaviour, physiological trade-offs in animal societies and intercontinental comparisons of physiological life-history trade-offs. My work to date has primarily focussed on mammals (bats), although I initially came to ecology through a fascination for birds. Field sites I have worked at include Barro Colorado Island, terrestrial field station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and the eastern Australian coast in the Border Ranges area between New South Wales and Queensland, a region with significant UNESCO-listed world heritage rainforests (Gondwana Rainforests of Australia), where I did research in close collaboration with Justin Welbergen (Cambridge) and Anne Goldizen (Brisbane). Lately, I was based in Australia as an Endeavour Australia-Europe Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, completing PhD work. 

My personal approach to science has a strong political and conservation component. I  aim at not only knowing about how things work but also at explaining to policy makers and the public what this means in terms of future strategies for conserving our planet's biological diversity.