My research programme focuses on understanding drivers of inter- and intra-specific variation in life-history strategies, with an emphasis on reproductive variation and fitness outcomes. I am particularly interested in how the environment impacts 'post-copulatory' traits like sperm and seminal fluid, male-male and male-female reproductive interactions, and epigenetic inheritance.
I combine empirical research involving whole-organism phenotyping, microscopy, and biomolecular techniques with meta-analytic methods. This allows me to address hypotheses spanning a range of organisational levels.
Currently, I am an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz working with Prof Hanna Kokko where I am examining the effects of environmental fluctuations on bet-hedging strategies and how sexual selection may purge deleterious alleles to avoid inbreeding depression. I am also a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Sydney working with Professor Stephen Simpson as part of the GECKO Consortium, where we use nutritional geometry to examine the effects of paternal diet on offspring health and fitness, and am an Adjunct Associate Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
My PhD thesis explored male reproductive investment and phenotypic plasticity in post-copulatory traits.
I combine empirical research involving whole-organism phenotyping, microscopy, and biomolecular techniques with meta-analytic methods. This allows me to address hypotheses spanning a range of organisational levels.
Currently, I am an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz working with Prof Hanna Kokko where I am examining the effects of environmental fluctuations on bet-hedging strategies and how sexual selection may purge deleterious alleles to avoid inbreeding depression. I am also a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Sydney working with Professor Stephen Simpson as part of the GECKO Consortium, where we use nutritional geometry to examine the effects of paternal diet on offspring health and fitness, and am an Adjunct Associate Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
My PhD thesis explored male reproductive investment and phenotypic plasticity in post-copulatory traits.
Banner: Mount Taranaki in my home town, New Plymouth | Lower photo: Fowlers Gap, UNSW Arid Zone Field Station
