Oliver Poole

Oliver is a PhD student studying migratory physiology and genetics in hoverflies under Dr Karl Wotton. Broadly interested in ecology, evolution and physiology, his current research program focuses on evolved adaptations to the modification of ageing through enhanced endurance capabilities in a migratory insect. Together, this Royal Society funded studentship marries a diverse set of lab and field techniques to develop a fundamental understanding of the biological adaptations witnessed in this system.

Data is collected from wild-caught active migrants at a high-altitude migration bottleneck in the French Pyrenees and from lab-induced migratory and non-migratory phenotypes. These resources provide a compelling system to comparitavely investigate the functional, histological, morphological, metabolic, reproductive and genetic adaptations to ageing and muscle enhancement in the marmalade hoverfly.

Please do get in touch with Oliver if you would like to collaborate or consult his research knowledge on :

• Flight Mill (production and analysis)
• Microscopy (confocal and bright-field, tissue staining)
• microCT (operating and analysis) 
• Image analysis (Fiji, dragonfly)
• Fuel assaying
• Genetics (gene expression)
• Network Analysis

Co-supervised by Alex Hayward and Timothy Etheridge