Dr Kirsty MacLeod
Teaching & Research Lectureship
Research
I am a behavioural ecologist interested in the links between animal behaviour, life history and physiology, and how individuals interact with each other and their environment, primarily (but not exclusively!) in reptiles.
These interests cover a broad range of topics, from predator-prey interactions, to anthropogenic noise disturbance, to ecophysiology, and reproductive and breeding system ecology.
Currently, my research is focusing on the intersection of a few major themes:
- environmental change - particularly winter warming - and how this impacts reptile behaviour, physiology, and population dynamics
- the role of stress in wild animals
- maternal effects - how a mother's environment influences the phenotype of her offspring
- the drivers and consequences of social and prosocial behaviour
For more info, see my personal/lab webpage.
Research Activity at Previous HEIs
Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Research Fellow, Lund University 2019 - 2022
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Pennsylvania State University 2016 - 2019
Research Associate, University of Cambridge 2014 - 2016
Education / academic qualifications
- PhD , Allonursing in the cooperatively breeding meerkat (2011 - 2014)
- BSc , Zoology (2005 - 2009)
Research outputs (29)
- Published
Stress in the social context: a behavioural and eco-evolutionary perspective
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
- Published
Predator-induced transgenerational plasticity in animals: a meta-analysis
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
A quantitative synthesis of and predictive framework for studying winter warming effects in reptiles
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review