BIO
My research focusses on New Zealand’s ecological evolution. I examine what creates the diversity and distribution of species, the distribution of populations within a species, and the distribution if individuals in populations. My strengths are in spider, avian diversity and mammal behaviour but I also work with plants, lichens, and insects. Although I primarily take a phylogenetic approach, using molecular (including next generation sequencing) methods to reconstruct the biogeographical history of various lineage, I also use ecological analyses. Recently, I have started using behavioural methods to assess how individuals within populations move around the landscape, especially for wildlife management of mammalian species introduced to New Zealand, such as possums and deer, and international species, such as leopards, African elephants and red panda. An emergent theme of my research is understanding the difference between evolutionary and ecological time and how these connect at the different scales of species, populations and individuals.
DEGREES
PhD
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
BSc (Hons)
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
4 Quality Education
11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
14 Life Below Water
15 Life on Land
FIELDS OF RESEARCH (2020)
Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology
Wildlife and habitat management
Behavioural ecology
Evolutionary biology
Biogeography and phylogeography
Host-parasite interactions
Phylogeny and comparative analysis
