Research
We're interested in the extrinsic (environmental) and intrinsic (genes, proteins, hormones and other molecules) drivers of behavioural differences within marine animals. The rocky shore provides a great environment to study this as there is a distinct environmental gradient with conditions changing from marine to terrestrial... And a bunch of marine organisms either competing for the best spots or being resilient enough to occupy more difficult conditions.
Click on an image to be taken to more information about each topic.
Coping styles are correlations between animal personality (consistent differences in behaviour between individual animals) and the physiological response to stress. They can help us understand a lot about natural variation in behaviour within and between populations and why we see prevalence in particular behavioural types, but also have important consequences for a whole range of fitness-related traits.
Coping Styles
Animals are naturally exposed to numerous stressors. In the intertidal these may range from extremes of temperature and salinity through to intense competition, and will vary in magnitude over various spatiotemporal scales. But anthropogenic stressors are increasingly commonplace and it's important we understand how organisms cope with what's thrown at them.
Responding to the Environment
The way we work with animals is important, not just to ensure we collect high quality data but to make sure we cause as little harm and distress as possible in doing so. Rightly, where we have to use animals in our research, we want to minimise the impact both to the individual and the populations we work with. The 3Rs are ethical guidelines to ensure best practice among animal researchers and to ensure the science we're doing is humane.