Understanding life-history trade-offs and variation in senescence patterns

Antoine is a physiological ecologist, whose research focusses on the contribution of mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, glucocorticoid hormones and telomere dynamics as proximate mechanisms shaping avian health, ageing and life histories.

Chiara is a behavioural ecologist with a research focus on behavioural and physiological responses to environmental sources of stress, like temperature and predation risk. Her model species are birds and fish.

Kees' research focuses on finding answers to fundamental and strategic questions related to individual responses to changing environments. He does this from an ecological and evolutionary point of view, at the crossroads between behavioural ecology and behaviour genetics

Diego is a behavioural ecologist, who is interested in hormonal mechanisms by which organisms may modify offspring phenotype in response to environmental cues. He uses birds as model systems, and has recently studied the long term effects of egg androgens in reproductive success.

Britt's group takes an integrative approach to study the mechanisms that allow organisms to respond to environmental challenges. Britt's research includes many studies examining how variation in life-history and exposure to stressors influences the pace of senescence and longevity.

Carlos addresses questions concerning disciplines such as Eco-physiology, Behavioral Ecology and Evolutionary Ecology. He is mainly interested in individual life-history traits, such as growth, age of first reproduction, reproductive investment throughout lifetime and longevity, as well as in secondary sexual traits as components of reproductive investment.

Ana’s research interests focus on the proximate mechanisms (mainly oxidative stress and telomere dynamics) involved in the resolution of life-history trade-offs with particular interest in long-lasting effects of early life conditions, parental effects and the cost of reproduction.