Dr Emmanuelle Briolat

I have broad interests in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology, but am especially keen to apply research in the field of animal visual signalling to issues of conservation concern. My current research focuses on the impacts of light pollution on the visual ecology of nocturnal moths.

Before beginning my PhD, I worked as a research assistant, studying first camouflage in cuttlefish, then parental behaviour in burying beetles. As part of my BBSRC funding, I also completed a short rotation project in the Psychology Department at the University of Exeter, focusing on edge perception and flight behaviour in bumblebees. Since then, the central theme of my research has been coloration and visual communication in Lepidoptera. My PhD investigated the form and function of warning signals in day-flying burnet moths (Lepiodptera: Zygaenidae), focusing in particular on the question of quantitative signal honesty in these species. As a post-doctoral research associate in the Sensory Ecology and Evolution group, I investigated the relative benefits of generalist and specialist background-matching camouflage strategies for prey in complex natural environments, using both field and online experiments. Additional projects include the role of high-contrast markings in butterfly wing patterns, and camouflage evolution under different lighting conditions. I currently work as a research fellow with Dr Jolyon Troscianko, Prof Kevin Gaston and Dr Jonathan Bennie, investigating how light pollution affects flower visitation, orientation and antipredator defences in nocturnal moths.

Aside from academic research, I was a long-term writer for the MRC’s Biomedical Picture of the Day website, and have published a children's book on the visual defences of moths and butterflies.