I am a behavioural and evolutionary ecologist interested in the factors that influence adaptation and the evolution of reproductive isolation. I primarily use insects in the lab to experimentally test mechanisms that shape adaptation.

How social evolution impacts ecological adaptation

A primary interest of mine is how social interactions can drive evolutionary dynamics and understanding why these dynamics may be hard to predict. How does sexual selection impact host plant adaptation? I am using broad-headed bugs (Hemiptera: Alydidae) to better understand this process. 

In collaboration with Dr Syuan-Jyun Sun in Taiwan, we are exploring how parental care can help species cope with rapid environmental change as forecast by climate change models, using the burying beetle Nicrophorus nepalensis (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) as a model.

Evolutionary impacts of invasive species

Alien and invasive species can fundamentally change the communities in which they invade, providing a new niche for species to adapt or restructuring food webs. With funding from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency, I am exploring how the invertebrate community associated with the invasive Rhododendron ponticum has evolved over the last thirty years, looking for signs that native insects have evolved to better utlise it as a host.