Welcome!
I'm a PhD student at the University of Exeter and Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, studying the social lives of vulturine guineafowl.
Research Areas and Interests
Current work
Previous work
Upcoming work
PhD info:
I'm a PhD student at the University of Exeter and Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, studying the social lives of vulturine guineafowl.
Research Areas and Interests
Current work
- Breeding and dominance in female vulturine guineafowl: In social groups of vulturine guineafowl some females breed while others do not. I'm currently studying the consequences of breeding on the outcomes of females' dominance interactions with other females—both breeders and non-breeders. Additionally, I'm investigating whether breeding (or not breeding) affects how much aggression females receive from male group members. This work is ongoing and will be updated once this paper/PhD chapter is submitted to a journal.
- Cooperative breeding in vulturine guineafowl: I'm working with Brendah Nyaguthii, a Master's student on the vulturine guineafowl project, and other group members to describe cooperative breeding in our vulturine guineafowl population (click here to view the preprint).
Previous work
- Determinants of dominance and their feedback loops: In animal societies, individuals occupy particular social positions within their group, such as their position in a dominance hierarchy. I'm interested in the determinants of individuals hierarchy positions, and how hierarchy feeds back to these determinants. Dominance and its determinants in a parental generation may also affect offspring via transgenerational effects, which can have longterm consequences for the position of individuals or lineages in dominance hierarchies (click here to view our published manuscript).
- Strategic dominance interactions: Social dominance brings many benefits but, as engaging in dominance interactions is costly, individuals should be strategic in which group members they direct dominance interactions towards. We show that vulturine guineafowl direct interactions strategically, that strategies differ between different categories of dominance interactions, and that individuals express higher-cost aggression (as opposed to lower-cost aggression) when engaging in interactions with individuals immediately below themselves in the hierarchy (click here to view our published manuscript).
- Cooperative breeding behaviour: I am interested in cooperative breeding, with a particular interest in the difficulties in explaining the interspecific distribution of cooperative breeding (in vertebrates)—on which my Master's dissertation focused.
Upcoming work
- Nuptial gifts in a vertebrate: Describing and understanding patterns of a highly-ritualised, intersexual food-sharing behaviour in vulturine guineafowl. This work is in its infancy and will be updated once further progressed.
PhD info:
- Start date: Sept. 2019 (effectively March 2020, due to 6-month rotation project unrelated to thesis)
- Expected end date: Sept. 2023
- Co-supervised by Dr. Neeltje Boogert and Prof. Damien Farine
- Part of the Vulturine Guineafowl Project
