Alumni

Alumni

• Dr Emma Barrett (NERC Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2009-2012) Telomeres as biomarkers of costs and quality in a wild population. Grant awarded to David Richardson. Project partners: Terry Burke, Jan Komdeur, Pat Monaghan (University of Glasgow) and Simon Verhulst (RUG). Collaborators: Els Atema (RUG), Winnie Boner (University of Glasgow), Hannah Dugdale (Sheffield), Martijn Hammers (RUG), Sjouke Kingma (UEA, RUG), Ellis Mulder (RUG) and David Wright (UEA), and supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Charlotte Bartleet-Cross NERC PhD (2016-2022) Conservation genomics of the Seychelles warbler. Based at the University of Sheffield. Supervised by Terry Burke, Hannah Dugdale and Steve Paterson. Supported by David Richardson, Jan Komdeur and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Kat Bebbington (NERC PhD, 2013-2017) Telomeres as biomarkers of costs and quality in a wild population of Seychelles warblers. Supervised by David Richardson. Supported by Jan Komdeur, Terry Burke, Hannah Dugdale & Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Mirjam Borger (NWO PhD, 2019-2023) A first realistic quantitative test of sex ratio modification theory in a wild population. Supervised by Jan Komdeur, David Richardson and Franjo Weissing. Supported by Terry Burke, Hannah Dugdale and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Lyanne Brouwer (WOTRO PhD, 2003-2007). Cooperative breeding and density regulation. Supervised by Jan Komdeur and David Richardson.

• Thomas Brown BBSRC PhD (2017-2021) biomarkers of Senescence in the Seychelles warbler. Based at UEA. Supervised by David Richardson, Martin Taylor, and Hannah Dugdale. Supported by Terry Burke, Jan Komdeur and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Michela Busana NWO PhD (2013-2021) Influence of demographic and social environment on individual behavioural phenotypes and fitness. Based at RUG. Supervised by Jan Komdeur and Hananh Dugdale. Supported by David Richardson, Terry Burke, and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Ellie Chesterton (Leeds Doctoral Scholarship 2018-2023) Individual variation in reproductive success in the Seychelles warbler
Based at the University of Leeds. Supervised by Hannah Dugdale, David Richardson & Simon Goodman. Supported by Terry Burke, Jan Komdeur and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Janske van de Crommenacker (Post-doctoral research associate, 2018-2020) How do early-life conditions determine phenotypes and fitness? Collaboration with David Richardson, Hannah Dugdale, Jan Komdeur and Terry Burke. Supported by Nature Seychelles.
  (NWO PhD, 2006-2010) Hard times in paradise?: oxidative status, physiology and fitness in the tropical Seychelles warbler. Supervised by Jan Komdeur and David Richardson. ResearchGate

• Dr Tara Cox (NERC PhD 2018-2023) Causes and consequences of animal personalities in the Seychelles warbler. Based at the University of Leeds. Supervised by Hannah Dugdale, Terry Burke & Liz Duncan. Supported by David Richardson, Jan Komdeur and Nature Seychelles.

• Charli Davies NERC PhD (2016-2021) Offspring or survival: Antagonistic effects and the maintenance of genetic variation in an isolated island population of Seychelles warblers.
  Based at UEA. Supervised by David Richardson, Hannah Dugdale and Martin Taylor. Supported by Terry Burke, Jan Komdeur and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Hannah Edwards (NERC PhD, 2012-2016) Personalities and fitness in the Seychelles warbler. Supervised by Terry Burke and Hannah Dugdale. Supported by Nature Seychelles, David Richardson and Jan Komdeur. Supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Cas Eikenaar (NWO PhD, 2004-2008). Natal dispersal in the Seychelles warbler. Co-supervised by Jan Komdeur and David Richardson.

• Dr Eleanor Fairfield (Research associate, 2014-2016) Ellie conducted the telomere laboratory work for the Seychelles warbler project. Line manager, David Richardson.

• Dr Danielle Gilroy (UEA PhD, 2011-2015) Beyond the MHC: Consequences of functional variation at immune loci in the Seychelles warbler. Supervised by David Richardson, Terry Burke and Jan Komdeur. Supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Jarrod Hadfeld (NERC Post-doc, 2004-2006). Components of fitness in the cooperatively breeding Seychelles warbler. Collaboration with David Richardson, Terry Burke and Jan Komdeur.

• Dr Martijn Hammers (VENI Post-doctoral researcher, 2015-2019) Why do social species live longer? Collaboration with David Richardson, Hannah Dugdale, Jan Komdeur and Terry Burke. Supported by Nature Seychelles.
  (NWO PhD, 2008-2013) Ecology of senescence in a cooperatively breeding bird. A long-term study on the Seychelles warbler. Co-supervised by Jan Komdeur, Terry Burke and David Richardson. In collaboration with Hannah Dugdale and Emma Barrett. Supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Owen Howison (Database manager, 2013-2018) Owen managed the Seychelles warbler database and the project’s wiki, which archives the Seychelles warbler data. Line managers: Hannah Dugdale and Jan Komdeur.

• Dr Kim Hutchings (UEA-RUG PhD, 2005-2009) Parasites, MHC genes and fitness in the Seychelles Warbler. Supervised by David Richardson and Jan Komdeur.

• Dr Frank Groenewoud (NWO PhD, 2013-2018) Group stability under environmental heterogeneity in cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Supervised by Jan Komdeur and Michael Taborsky (U Bern). Supported by David Richardson, Terry Burke and Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Sjouke Kingma (VENI Post-doctoral researcher, 2013-2017) Sharing is caring: the evolutionary stability of group living in cooperative animals.
  Collaboration with David Richardson, Jan Komdeur and Terry Burke. Supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Sara Raj Pant (RUG-UEA PhD, 2015-2019) Investigating the evolutionary forces underlying extra-pair paternity in Seychelles warblers. Supervised by David Richardson, Hannah Dugdale and Jan Komdeur. Supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Alexandra Sparks Research Fellow (2017-2020) Genomics of senescence in the Seychelles warbler.
  Based at the University of Leeds. Collaboration with Hannah Dugdale, David Richardson, Jan Komdeur and Terry Burke. Supported by Nature Seychelles and NERC.

• Dr Lewis Spurgin (NERC Post-doctoral research associate, 2014-2015) Silver-spoon effects on telomere lengths. Collaboration with David Richardson, Hannah Dugdale, Jan Komdeur and Terry Burke. Supported by Nature Seychelles.

• Dr Margarete Utz (NWO Post-doc, 2013-2015) Theoretical modelling of the causes and consequences of variation in dispersal behaviour. Supervised by Jan Komdeur, Franjo Weissing and Hannah Dugdale.

• Dr Sarah Worsley (Post-doctoral research associate, 2020-2023) Gut microbiome variation, fitness and senescence within a natural vertebrate population. Collaboration with David Richardson, Matthew Hutchings and Hannah Dugdale. Supported by Nature Seychelles and NERC.

• Jildou van der Woude NWO PhD (2008-2019; 50%) Physiological consequences of different life-history strategies in the Seychelles Warbler. Based at RUG. Supervised by Jan Komdeur, David Richardson and Hannah Dugdale. Supported by Terry Burke and Nature Seychelles

• Dr David J Wright (NERC Post-doctoral research associate, 2015-2016) MHC-dependent social mate choice. Collaboration with David Richardson, Hannah Dugdale, Jan Komdeur and Terry Burke. Supported by Nature Seychelles.
  (NERC Case PhD, 2010-2014) Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics in the Seychelles Warbler: MHC Diversity. Supervised by David Richardson and Dr Nigel Collar (Birdlife International). Supported by Terry Burke, Jan Komdeur and Nature Seychelles.