Biosciences Seminar Speaker 12 March 2015

Biosciences Seminar Series - Winter 2015
12 March 2015 - 1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

Life history correlates of consistency, plasticity and variability in behaviour

Dr Samantha Patrick

(University of Liverpool, UK)

Image from: https://sites.google.com/site/samanthacpatrick/

Recent resarch is increasingly showing that individual animals within populations often show strong and consistent differences in behaviour, leading to the existence of different personality types. Understanding the causes and consequences of these differences is one of the main aims of the research group of our next seminar speaker, Dr Samantha Patrick. Samantha is a behavioural ecologist with a keen interest in bird ecology and evolution, especially of mating and foraging strategies. Sam is a lecturer at the Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences at the University of Liverpool, where she has recently started to build her own research group.

Abstract

Increasingly, studies are revealing that individuals within the same population differ from one another in their behaviour.  Through my research, I examine what are the causes and consequences of these differences and their stability over time.  Specifically I use seabirds as a model organism to look at personality differences and behavioural specialisation and the links to fitness in the short and long term.  Furthermore, I look at how individuals are able to change their behaviour, demonstrating plastic responses to the environment. My seminar will discuss all aspects of this research, examining the behavioural, ecological and evolutionary implications.

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!