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  2. Professor Michael Bonsall

Professor Michael Bonsall

bonsall mike
Professor of Mathematical Biology
Tutorial Fellow of St Peter’s College
Associate Head of Division (Education)

Research Interests

I am interested in population biology (population dynamics, community ecology, evolutionary ecology). Research in the group focuses on a wide range of questions such as the population and evolutionary dynamics of life history strategies (e.g. the evolution of longevity), the role of spatial structure on shared enemy and competing enemy interactions, the effects of enrichment on the diversity of ecological communities, the interplay between noise and dynamics in multispecies interactions and the evolution of resistance to microbes.

Many of these projects involve the development of theoretical models in conjunction with experiments or observations in the field or laboratory. To this end, we aim to test different ecological and evolutionary ecology theories by fitting relevant mathematical models to appropriate ecological experimental (or observational) data. Further details of my research interests can be found here. 

I have a strong interest in science policy. From 2007 - 2016 I was a member of DEFRA's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) and more recently involved in science policy work with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As part of science policy work with WHO (TDR) and FNIH, I was involved in producing a report on the efficacy, biosafety and regulations of GM Mosquitoes. In June 2014, this report, as a Guidance Framwork for testing GM Mosquitoes, was published. Through July to December 2015, I served as science advisor to the House of Lords Science and Technology committee - a report was published on GM insects.

I am involved with the academic management teams on several Doctoral Training Programmes and more information on these is available here.

Contact Details

michael.bonsall@zoo.ox.ac.uk

PA: lynne.bradley@zoo.ox.ac.uk

 

Selected Publications

Bonsall, MB, Raymond, B 2008 Lethal pathogens, non-lethal synergists and the evolutionary ecology of resistance. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 254, 339-349.

Mangel, M, Bonsall, MB 2008 Phenotypic evolutionary models in stem cell biology: replacement, quiescence, and variability. PLoS ONE 3, e1591

Klug, H, Bonsall, MB 2007. When to care for, abandon, or eat your offspring: the evolution of parental care and filial cannibalism. American Naturalist, 170 886-901.

Bonsall, MB 2006 Longevity and ageing: appraising the evolutionary consequences of growing old. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society, Series B, 361: 119-135.

Bonsall, MB, Jansen, VAA, Hassell, MP 2004. Life history trade-offs assemble ecological guilds. Science 306: 111-114.

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