Environmental stochasticity is the rule, rather than the exception, in natural settings. Organisms have evolved multiple strategies to cope with the environments in which the live in order to maximise their fitness. A main goal of the SalGo Team is to understand just about how rich the repertoire of life history strategies is across the tree of life, and how such strategies may render some species more vulnerable than others before projected climate change. We use big data, field experiments, and long-term demographic datasets to address these and other related questions, including the evolution of senescence, and the role of functional traits in population dynamics. Student wanting to join the SalGo Team may conduct fieldwork in areas such as the Peak District, Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, South Africa, Australia, Mexico & Spain. The details of the DPhil project will be expected to be largely developed by the student in close discussion with me, but they will involve analyses of already existing data (e.g. www.compadre-db.org), and/or experimental work in the field/laboratory whose data will be fit using ecological modelling techniques to address questions in ecology, evolution or conservation biology.
Experience & Qualifications
MSc Environmental Management, University of Kingston/University of Cadiz PhD Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Pennsylvania
3 years as independent research fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia 1 year as independent research fellow at the University of Sheffield, UK 4 years as independent research fellow at the University of Oxford, UK 2 years as associate professor at the University of Oxford, UK
