Buckling Lab Group

MICROBIAL EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK

Current group members Research Fellows:
	Dr Thomas Bell Royal Society University Research Fellow	Thomas.Bell@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology Telephone: 01865 271157 research page	I am particularly interested in understanding how constructed communities of naturally co-occurring micro-organisms influence ecosystem processes. Ongoing projects also include searching for physical and biological correlates of microbial community structure, and conducting laboratory and field experiments as well as computer simulations to understand the processes that underlie the observed patterns
Prof Angus Buckling (moved to University of Exeter)		A.J.Buckling@exeter.ac.uk Daphne du Maurier, Biosciences research page	I research the evolutionary ecology of microbes, with a particular focus on parasites. I try to carry out my research at the interface of a range of evolutionary and ecological disciplines (social evolution, coevolution, population ecology, community ecology) to address both general and system-specific questions.
	Dr Sam Brown (moved to University of Edinburgh)	Sam.Brown@ed.ac.uk Ashworth Building 1.58,. School of Biologucal Sciences Telephone: 0131 650 5750 research page	My work centres on two themes: the evolution of cooperation and the evolution of virulence. These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts.
Prof Kevin Foster Professor of Evolutionary Biology Fellow at Magdalen College		Kevin.Foster@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology research page	Cooperation is all around us. Genes have come together in genomes, cells work together in multicellular organisms, and animals cooperate in societies. However, cooperation represents one of the major challenges in evolutionary biology because Darwin's theory of natural selection makes it clear that competition and selfishness are often the best strategies for success. Why then do many animals help each other? For example, why do honeybee workers work rather than lay their own eggs? And why don't cells in a multicellular organism compete? One important answer is that cooperation often involves relatives: the cells in your body are genetically identical so there is no conflict over the jobs that they do, or whose genes are passed on in sperm or eggs. But despite the importance of genetics, we know almost nothing of the actual genes behind cooperation. Do single genes control social behaviours? What is the role of interactions among genes? Do genetic networks evolve to make it difficult for selfish 'cheaters' to arise and exploit social groups? My lab is interested in the evolution of cooperation in all its guises and, increasingly, in the genetics and genomics of cooperative traits using microbes as a model system.
	Dr Ashleigh Griffin Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow	Ashleigh.Griffin@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology Telephone:01865 81999 research page	I am interested in the evolution of cooperative behaviour because it poses a special problem for evolutionary theory - how can selection favour a behaviour that reduces reproductive success? The question is important, not just so we can gain an insight into striking examples such as colonies of social insects or meerkat groups, but because it is fundamental to understanding life as we know it: the evolution of the genome, the eukaryotic cell and multicellular organisms. In previous years, my main focus has been the use of the bacterial system Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as an experimental system for testing predictions of social evolution theory. My current projects fall into two main categories: (1) The application of social evolution theory to understand clinical problems of bacterial infection. (2) The use of meta-analysis to test predictions of social evolution theory in patterns across species, primarily cooperatively breeding birds.
Dr Freya Harrison Fellow by Examination, Magdalen College		Freya.Harrison@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology research page	Why do organisms cooperate with one another? Wherever we look in the tree of life, we see behaviours that involve two or more individuals working together to achieve a common goal. Often, cooperation appears to be altruistic in that one individual pays a cost in order to benefit another. This leads to a temptation to defect, as there is a considerable personal advantage in being the sole hyena that does not join with the pack to hunt yet shares in the spoils, or the new parent who abandons its offspring to the sole care of its partner in order to mate again. Yet cooperative behaviours such as pack hunting, biparental care or cooperative breeding persist over evolutionary time. How cooperation can be maintained given the temptation to defect is a fascinating question for biologists (and also for psychologists, social scientists and economists). I research the ecology and evolution of cooperation from two different angles: firstly, experimental evolution of bacterial populations in the lab and, secondly, the causes and dynamics of cooperation in vertebrates - including humans.
	Dr Britt Koskella NERC Research Fellow	Britt.Koskella@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology research page	A key challenge in evolutionary biology is to determine how coevolution between species shapes the diversity of life found on earth and how this is impacted by anthropogenic change; questions that are critical to informing predictions about the future of biodiversity and ecosystem stability. I combine laboratory-based, experimental evolution techniques with field studies of natural interactions between hosts and pathogens to identify and address fundamental questions about community structure, coevolution, and abiotic environment as driving forces of diversity.
Dr Craig MacLean Departmental Lecturer in Evolution Hugh Price Fellow in Evolutionary Biology, Jesus College		Craig.Maclean@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology Telephone: 01865 281062 research page	I am interested in using microbial microcosms to study evolutionary biology. Most of my work deals with the population genetics of adaptation to novel environments, the evolution of social interactions, and evolutionary diversification.
	Prof Stuart West Professor of Evolutionary Biology	Stuart.West@zoo.ox.ac.uk Department of Zoology research page	I am an evolutionary biologist whose main interest is the evolution of social behaviours, such as cooperation, altruism, spite, mutualism, parasite virulence and sex allocation. I use a mixture of techniques including theory, experiment and across species comparative studies. My empirical work utilises a range of organisms, including bacteria, protozoa, insects (especially parasitoid wasps), fish, birds and mammals.

Postdoctoral Researchers and Postgraduate students

Past Group Members