FROM MICROBES TO MINDS

Our Research

Animals show striking variation in behaviour and cognition, within individuals, between individuals, and across species. These traits shape how animals interact with their environment and respond to human-driven change. Emerging evidence reveals the gut microbiome as a powerful player in driving this variation. We investigate how individual variation in learning, risk-taking, and behavioural flexibility contributes to ecological success, and under what conditions the gut microbiome mediates phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental change.

Our Projects

Our projects span the field, lab and the cloud. We combine fieldwork, lab-based techniques, and advanced analytics to tackle big questions exploring the evolutionary ecology of the gut microbiome and animal cognition. Specifically, we use autonomous data collection, molecular and microbiological methods, next-generation sequencing, and cutting-edge tools in bioinformatics, machine learning, and statistical modelling.

Our Team

Meet the Principal Investigator, Gabrielle Davidson, and the dynamic group of postdocs, research assistants, students, and collaborators driving our research forward. Find out how you can join the team.

We’re hiring!
Apply for our Senior Research Associate position.
Laboratory Technician position will be advertised soon.

Fully-funded PhD opportunity!
Apply for Gut microbiome variation in wild birds: Developmental consequences for host traits and fitness.