Dr Andrew Young

About me:

I am an Evolutionary Biologist with an interest in Social Evolution and Senescence (Ageing)
My group use long-term field studies of wild social vertebrates (e.g. weaver birds in the Kalahari desert and European badgers here in the UK) and laboratory studies of social microbes to advance our understand of sociality and ageing.
For more info see www.animalsocieties.org

I am based at Exeter's Centre for Ecology & Conservation (CEC) in Cornwall, UK

I am one of two CEC Directors of Research and I'm the Programme Director of our renowned MSc in Evolution, Behaviour and Ecology

I support the Research Fellowship programmes of the Royal Society and the BBSRC.

I am also a passionate educator, ecologist and adventurer, enjoying teaching and discovery in the wild as much as the class-room. Most of my research is conducted in the Kalahari desert, but I have taught fieldcourses in a variety of places, from Costa Rica, Kenya & India to Scotland, Switzerland & the Isles of Scilly, right here in Cornwall.

I lead the following taught modules & am a Fellow of Higher Education Academy
MSc - Evolutionary & Behavioural Ecology: Frontiers & Approaches
L2 - Animal Ecophysiology
L2 - Isles of Scilly Fieldcourse (St Agnes)

Away from the office, I am a rock climber, sea kayaker, photographer, mammalwatcher & father of twins.

Check out these recent findings from our research on cooperative Kalahari weaver birds:

Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birdsScience

Mothers in a cooperatively breeding bird lay larger eggs when they'll have more help feeding their nestlings
PLOS Biology

Cooperative breeding allows a Kalahari bird to cope with unpredictable rainfall
Science Advances

Do get in touch if you're interested in joining the group or our MSc in Evolutionary & Behavioural Ecology

Interests:

My group investigate the Evolution and Mechanisms of Social Behaviour & Senescence (Ageing) using wild social vertebrates and microbes as model systems
Check out www.animalsocieties.org for the low down!

I am particularly interested in the evolution of cooperation, social conflict and senescence and the interactions between these phenomena. My group take an integrative approach, asking both evolutionary and mechanistic questions, given the potential for mechanistic insights to shed light on evolutionary constraints and the origins of variation. We test evolutionary and mechanistic hypotheses through a combination of long-term longitudinal life-history, behavioural and molecular (e.g. genomics, endocrine and oxidative stress, and telomere biology) analyses, targeted field experiments, and experimental evolution in the laboratory.

We use natural populations of social vertebrates and laboratory studies of microbes as our main study systems. One of our primary model systems is our long-term study of sparrow weaver societies in the Kalahari desert.

Check out three recent findings from our work on cooperative Kalahari weaver birds:

Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds

Science

Mothers in a cooperatively breeding bird lay larger eggs when they'll have more help feeding their nestlings
PLOS Biology

Cooperative breeding allows a Kalahari bird to cope with unpredictable rainfall
Science Advances

Do get in touch if you are interested in joining the group!
Qualifications:

2003 PhD Zoology, University of Cambridge
1997 BA (Hons), University of Cambridge

Career:

2016-now Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Exeter
2010-2016 BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellow, Exeter
2007-2010 NERC Blue Skies Research Fellow, Exeter
2004-2007 Magdalene College Research Fellow, Cambridge
2000-2003 PhD, Cambridge

I started my career in Cambridge, completing my Honours degree and PhD at St John's, and then holding a Fellowship at Magdalene. I then won a NERC Blue Skies Research Fellowship to move to Exeter’s newly formed Centre for Ecology and Conservation in Cornwall in 2007, to set up the sparrow weaver project, followed by a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship in 2010.