Evolution and genetics of life, love and death

We are a group of evolutionary biologists trying to understand the causes and consequences of individual variation. In our research, we try to disentangling the role of genes and the environment in shaping this variation, and to test for its consequences in terms of individual-level fitness and population-level structure and demography. Using a combination of theoretical and empirical work, our research advances our understanding of the individual- and population-level consequences of environmental change. We combine ideas and techniques from population, quantitative and molecular genetics, as well as life-history theory, and apply these to large-scale (individual-based) datasets.

Snow vole slow-mo video by Arpat Ozgul

Erik Postma

Senior lecturer at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation since 2017. Before in the Netherlands (Wageningen and Heteren), Australia (Sydney) and Switzerland (Zurich).

Postdoctoral research fellows

Simon Evans

NERC-funded postdoctoral research fellow working on the evolutionary dynamics of clutch size.

PhD Students

Euan Young

The cost of reproduction in historical human societies.

(based at the University of Groningen, co-supervised with Hannah Dugdale and Virpi Lummaa)

Dugald Foster

Applying evolutionary theories of cooperation to microfinance.

(second supervisor, main supervisors Shakti Lamba and Alex Mesoudi)

Rosie Layfield

The island life in times of change: Disentangling the drivers of variation in natality and mortality among individuals and across time.

(co-supervised with Jane Wills)

MSc, MSci and MRes students

Lizzy Martin

Differences in mortality rates between men and women in times of crisis.

Sam Taylor

Facial morphology and performance in rugby players.

Past group members

Nick Igracev

Winner-loser effects in mixed martial arts fighters.

Euan Young

Comparative analysis of additive genetic variances. Currently PhD student in at University of Groningen, working with Hannah Dugdale, Virpi Lummaa and myself.

Timothée Bonnet

Currently a post-doc with Loeske Kruuk at the Research School of Biology, The Australian University in Canberra, Australia. For more information, see his personal website.

Nicolas Erzer

Former MSc student.

Xenia Wietlisbach

Former MSc student. Currently PhD student at the University of Zurich

Dominique Waldvogel

Database development and management, lab and field work.

Andres Hagmayer

Former MSc student. Currently PhD student at Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

Anja Bürkli

Currently post-doc at the University of Oxford

Jasmin Winkler

Currently running Ecolytics.

Kathrin Näpflin

Currently post-doc at the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.

Nina Vasiljevic

Philipp Becker

Former PhD student.

Pirmin Nietlisbach

Former PhD student. Currently a post-doc at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Vicente García Navas Corrales

Former post-doc. Currently post-doc at the Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Spain.

Centre for Ecology & Conservation
College of Life and Environmental Sciences
University of Exeter
Penryn Campus
Treliever Road
Penryn
Cornwall
TR10 9FE
United Kingdom