Social Networks
How social behaviour shapes society structure and governs social processes
Why do individuals differ in their social behaviours and network positions?
How does social structure change over time, and does the external environment influence this?
What are the consequences of social associations for social processes (e.g. disease transmission and behavioural contagions)?
Ecology & Evolution
Ecological and evolutionary consequences of individual behaviour in wild populations
How does natural selection shape the traits and behaviours in the wild populations?
What influences sexual selection and what are the consequences of mating patterns?
How does demography interact with local ecology and individual behaviour?
Psychiatry & Behaviour
Identifying what indicators, and what influences, mental health
How does behaviour (e.g. social and physical activity, internet usage) influence mental health?
Why do psychiatric conditions persist & can technological advances help mitigate them?
Which simple measures can we use to best indicate complex conditions?
Study Systems
Research systems, approaches, data, and people
Wild Birds
social relationships, behaviour, ecology
The long-term study of wild birds (great tits, blue tits, marsh tits & nuthatches) at Wytham Woods, Oxford, provides an ideal model system for examining sociality in natural populations. In particular, the great tit population has been monitored since the 1940's, meaning some individuals today can be traced back 35 generations. This long-term pedigree enables detailed examination of how natural selection may act to shape traits, and how individuals' traits are shaped by genetics and environmental effects. Radio-Frequency Identification tracking of these birds began in 2007, meaning data detailing the winter flocking behaviour of over 10,000 individuals now provides large-scale observational information on their social behaviour. Finally, through developing RFID devices which interact with individuals in real-time, I also use experiments to manipulate social associations between individuals to test the consequences of sociality.
Virtual Worlds
emergent processes, simulation models, internet
The virtual world, and its interface with the real world, is a useful tool for understanding the underpinnings of behaviour and the emergent consequences. I am particularly interested in: (1) Using computer simulations of individual-level social behaviour to create social systems and assess the meaning of individuals' network positions, how systems can evolve, and how social processes (e.g. contagions) can act on them. (2) Taking empirical data and applying 'null models' to determine which specific components of the real-world data (e.g. time, space, individual traits) are important in shaping the observed patterns. (3) Putting real organisms into virtual worlds to examine how simple rules directly shape real-world behaviour e.g. how real fish respond to virtual (simulated) prey (led by collaborator Christos Ioannou). (4) Working with collaborators in psychiatry to understand how humans respond to virtual settings, particularly in how the online-world may change social interaction patterns, and the consequences of this.
Mammal Systems
microbiome, ageing, conservation
Using a range of different field systems is beneficial for making specialised insights (i.e. answering questions that the different system are each particularly well suited to), and also for making generalised insights (i.e. by finding common patterns across systems). I'm currently actively involved in three key systems in this regards: (1 - 🦌) A long-term study of red deer population based on the isle of rum is especially well suited to understanding how environmental (e.g. space) and individual (e.g. age) factors shapes social networks (working particularly with Dan Nussey, Greg Albery, & many others). (2 -🐭) A wild mouse population in Wytham Woods provides a system for examining how individuals' microbiome is shaped by social behaviour (working particularly with Sarah Knowles, Aura Raulo & Tim Coulson). (3 -⛵) Peruvian local fisheries are particularly relevant to turtle conservation, and provide an important system for examining how conservation-positive behaviours can spread through networks (working particularly with Will Arlidge & E.J. Milner-Gulland).
Psychiatry Research
mental health, physical activity, biobankuk
As the medical sciences meet with the era of Big Data and tracking technologies, various opportunities to exist to gain an understanding of how individual behaviour relates to health across diverse contexts. In collaboration with biomedical researchers and psychiatrists, I work on various analytical and conceptual lines of research including implementing big datasets to assess human mental health (particularly in relation to activity patterns), the consequences of technology usage, and the relationship between mental health and individual variation in physical capacities & cognitive performance. These collaborations with the practitioners and researchers working in these areas have fortunately led to realised impact in terms of (i) contributing to the design of physical heath interventions for people with mental illness, (ii) the development of new tools for measuring activity of people in relation to mental health, and (iii) use in training allied health professions and psychiatrists e.g. through featuring in clinical training textbooks and as part of clinician training courses.
