Research

I wear two hats, behavioural ecologist and sensory ecologist, although the unifying theme is the explanation of the factors shaping the design, through natural selection, of animal form and function. If I have particular skills then they are, first, developing novel empirical tests of theoretical predictions, whether in the lab or field, and second, establishing successful interdisciplinary collaborations. Most of my work lies at the interface of different disciplines, and I have a long history of working with mathematicians to investigate behavioural decisions. More recently, and my current main research area, I have been collaborating closely with physiologists, perceptual psychologists and computational neuroscientists to understand how animal coloration (notably camouflage) evolves in response to animal colour vision.

Biography

Appointments

2008-2012: Head of School, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol.

1998-present: Professor of Behavioural Ecology, University of Bristol.

1996-1998: Reader in Behavioural Ecology, University of Bristol.

1989-1996: Lecturer in Zoology (Behavioural Ecology), University of Bristol.

1985-1989: Concurrently: Junior Research Fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford; Departmental Demonstrator (in ornithology), Department of Zoology, Oxford University; College Lecturer in Biological Sciences, Brasenose College, Oxford; College Lecturer in Zoology, Exeter College, Oxford.

Academic Qualifications

1985: D.Phil. (Oxon.) Zoology. Pembroke College, Oxford. (Supervisors: Prof. J.R. Krebs & Dr. A. Kacelnik (titles as in 1985).

1982: B.A. (Cantab.) Natural Sciences (Part II Zoology). First Class Honours. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Class I in Parts I & II of Tripos.

Special Awards, Honours and Distinctions

2020: Nakagawa & Cuthill (2007) selected by Biological Reviews as one of their highlight papers of the last 200 years.

2019: Invited to write the 2019 Thomas Henry Huxley Review for the Journal of Zoology.

2018: Medal of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (the leading European professional association in the area) for contributions to the field.

2015-2016: Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute of Advanced Studies).

2014: The 2014 Niko Tinbergen Lecture, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (see above). Annual lecture, nominated by ASAB Council.

2007-2010: President, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (see above)

2005: Nature (Nature Publishing Group) and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) award for mentoring in science. First recipient of the "mid-career" award for developing the careers of young scientists.

1998: Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London, for contributions to zoology by a scientist under 40 years old.

Publications