The Centre is supporting the research of local and international postgraduate students.

Elizabeth Speechley

PHD Student

Sociality generates many cognitively demanding challenges which are often hypothesised to drive the evolution of cognition. Previous research on the West Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis) has established a robust relationship between group size and cognition. However, the mechanisms driving this relationship remain unclear. My research uses cognitive testing and social network analysis to investigate whether the group size-cognition relationship is driven by the complexity of intragroup interactions. I will also conduct vocal analyses and playbacks to investigate whether the group size-cognition relationship is underpinned by the need to communicate effectively in large groups.

Nadia Sloan

PHD Student

My research project will examine biodiversity and speciation of short-range endemic millepedes from the genus Antichiropus. Specifically, I will examine coevolutionary divergence in male and female genital morphology, among species and populations, in order to understand the mechanisms behind reproductive isolation and its role in speciation.

Aline Gibson Vega

PHD Student

My research will focus on understanding the prevalence of social organisation and cooperative breeding in an understudied species, the western grasswren (Amytornis textiles textiles). As a non-obligate cooperative breeder, better understanding of the mechanisms which lead to such behaviour is critical for our understanding of cooperative breeding more generally. This work will also incorporate genetic understanding of the species to unveil the potential for Allee effects. As a by-product, it will aid in maximising the translocation success of the western grass wren under the Dirk Hartog Island Ecological Restoration Project ("Return to 1616") through better understanding of western grasswren ecology.

Kathryn Holmes

 

PHD Student

Reproductive cooperation between unrelated males is uncommon, particularly in the form of long-term alliances, and its ontogeny is not well understood. I am interested in how alliance partnerships develop, including the vocal and physical behaviour that mediates them, and what effects early social networks have on future adult reproductive success. In Shark Bay, WA, male bottlenose dolphins form three levels of nested alliances: long-term partnerships with unrelated males that are crucial to their reproductive success. My PhD research will use this system to improve our understanding of juvenile social development and its influence on future male reproductive success.

Joe Moschilla

PHD Student

My research will be looking at individual differences in behaviour in the Australian field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. I am mainly interested in the environmental mechanisms responsible for fluctuations in behaviour, and the potential for transgenerational effects on offspring behaviour. Furthermore, I will be examining the fitness benefits associated with behavioural variation and the evolutionary consequences of consistent individual differences in behaviour.

Camilla Soravia

PHD Student

Global warming in increasing the frequency of temperature extremes. The cognitive impairment caused by heat stress is well known in humans but has never been studied in wild animals, despite growing evidence that cognitive performance can directly influence fitness. My research investigates the relationship between heat stress and cognition in a wild population of pied babblers, Turdoides bicolour, residing in the Kalahari desert. Previous research has shown that above 35.5 celsius pied babblers start to lose body mass due to lower foraging efficiency and invest less in parental care. I will perform cognitive testing under normal and heat stress conditions and use available life-history records for individuals to explore the link between cognitive performance, heat wave events and life-history trajectories.

Jessica Hadlow

PHD Student

I am interested in the processes that influence gametic interactions and patterns of fertilisation. My research will focus on context-dependent selection: what factors influence observed phenotypic variation in sperm and egg traits, and patterns of gamete compatibility. Mytilus galloprovincialis, a broadcast spawning marine mussel, is a practical model system for studying gamete interactions, but the species itself is useful for understanding mitochondrial inheritance. M. galloprovincialis is one of ~100 known species with doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondria. I also hope to investigate DUI and its effects on sperm quality and competitive interactions.

 

Deanne Cummins

PHD Student

I am interested in investigating the use of translocation to increase the rate that a species can adapt to rapid climate change. This involves introducing non-local individuals that are adapted to climatic conditions similar to those predicted for the receiving population. I will use a translocated population of the periwinkle (Bembicium vittatum) as a model system to investigate the long-term risks of mixing genetically divergent individuals and to understand whether introduced genetic variation is incorporated, maintained and used to adapt to the local environment.

Sarah Walsh

PHD Student

I am broadly interested in vocal communication in animals with a specific interest in combinatoriality. I have previously looked into the acoustic structure of call combinations in the Western Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis), finding potential for compositional structuring. My current work is a continuation of this previous research and will focus on empirically verifying compositional structure, determining the role of sociality, and investigating the ontogeny of call combinations.

Amanda Bourne

PHD Student

In my PhD I am bringing together two sets of questions  - one around "Why be social?" and another around what it is that underlies species vulnerability to climate change. I am studying the impacts of high temperatures on behaviour, energy expenditure, water turnover, reproduction, and survival in Southern Pied Babblers Turdoides bicolor and investigating the extent to which, if at all, cooperation and group living can provide a buffer against negative impacts of heat stress. 

Blake Wyber

PHD Student

The seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus has become a model species for sexual selection and sexual conflict studies, due to its practice of traumatic insemination. I am interested in the role that ejaculates may play in offsetting damage to the female reproductive tract, inflicted by male genital spines, by providing supplementary resources. I will explore this my manipulating the mating context, such as sperm competition risk and resource availability, and observing whether males strategically invest ejaculates during copulation. I will also investigate whether females mating with ejaculate-depleted males incur higher mating costs.

Robin Hare

PHD Student
Sexual selection acting on female animals has historically received little attention from researchers. My research aims to address this knowledge gap using the bushcricket Kawanaphila nartee, which is known to undergo sex role reversal where females compete for males and males become choosy. By investigating the effects of female competition on the evolution of female traits in this species, and by comparing these traits across populations, my research will help provide a clearer picture of how sex roles are determined and their evolutionary consequences.

Paige Maroni

PHD Student

I study the diversification and chemical ecology of a marine radiation of molluscs using phylogenomics. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing of the Southern Ocean benthic sea slug, Doris kerguelenensis (originally described as a single endemic species) has revealed a multitude of highly divergent lineages representing a species flock comprising over 32 different species. I will use a transcriptome-based exon capture approach to resolve this Antarctic radiation. I will also assess the links between the slug's defensive chemical compounds, their diet and the cryptic species lineages. I will use phylogenetics to build a predictive framework to guide further pharmaceutical development.

Sarah Leeson

PHD Student
My research focuses on the genetics of introduced dung beetles in Australia. Dung beetles were introduced to Australia between 1969 and 1984 to combat the problematic build-up of cattle dung. While 43 species were introduced, only 23 have established, and many have failed to fulfill their predicted distribution. I am interested in the role that genetic variation has played in determining the outcome of these introductions. I will also investigate how genetic variation is utilised in local adaptation across climatic gradients, and I will look for evidence of adaptive introgression in species that were introduced from multiple source populations.

Wladimir Angelino Fae Neto

PHD Student
My research focuses on the evolutionary genetics of adaptation and trade-offs within the unicellular micro algae Chlamydomonas reihardtii. I will be working on size-diverged Chlamydomonas cell lines, examining the evolutionary stability of the divergence as well as what size evolution might mean for cellular processes such as lipid production, choleraphyll content and productivity under nutrient-depleted conditions. This might advance the development of biofuels from micro algae and have other applications. So my interest lies at the interface between evolutionary aspects of algal production and commercial application.

Gonçalo Andre

PHD Student
I am interested in the selective mechanisms underlying the evolution of the penis bone or baculum in mammals, and how the morphology of this bone impacts male and female reproductive success. I am using the house mouse as a model species, to measure physiological and morphological parameters, ranging from baculum size and shape to the neuroendocrinology response of females when mated with males with different baculum phenotypes. I will also determine the degree to which the environmental and genetic backgrounds of individuals affect baculum morphology. My research will thereby contribute to our understanding of the evolution of this divergent mammalian bone.

Stephanie Venables

PHD Student
Accurate information on population size and structure is necessary in order to understand the conservation requirements of a species, develop management strategies, and to assess and monitor population health over time. My PhD project focuses on fine-scale population genetics of reef manta rays, Manta alfredi, in two separate locations – Southern Mozambique and Raja Ampat, Indonesia. I will use genetic markers to estimate effective population size, investigate spatial connectivity and generational relatedness in order to gain insight into the structure of these populations. This information is intended to guide effective management and protection of this threatened species on a regional and global scale.