Tim Coulson
Professor of Zoology
University of Oxford
Website
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I am Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford. I am interested in using structured population models parameterized with data from both laboratory and field systems to link ecological and evolutionary theory. I have worked on systems ranging from laboratory populations of bulb mites, through experimental populations of guppies living wild in Trinidad to the reintroduced population of wolves living in Yellowstone. My recent work has shown that we should expect parameters that describe ecological change and those that characteristic evolution to vary together in the face of environmental change.
I did my Ph.D. in plant ecology at Imperial College London before conducting post-doctoral research at the Institute of Zoology in London and the University of Cambridge on free-living populations of red deer and Soay sheep. In 2004 I returned to Imperial College. In January 2013 I left my position as Professor of Population Biology there and took up the Professorship of Zoology at the University of Oxford. In 2013 I became associate head of department. I am editor of the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Research InterestsI am interested in ecology, evolution and conservation. I am particularly interested in understanding the ecological and evolutionary impacts that environmental change has on natural systems. How will different species and ecosystems respond to different types of environmental change?
I have recently addressed this question by developing structured models to link population dynamics, quantitative genetics, population genetics and life history theory. Models are needed as they provide a mathematical framework that is critical to understanding natural systems – systems that are often not amenable to replicated experimentation. Models can be analyzed to provide insight into how natural systems will respond to change, as well as being used to pose hypotheses and make predictions.
Models are only useful if they can be parameterized with data collected by empiricists. The types of model I typically work with can be parameterized with individual-level life history data. Depending upon the complexity of the models, they can be analyzed either numerically or analytically.
I enjoy collaborating, both with field biologists, and theoreticians. Typically within the group we have a mixture of field biologists, experimental biologists working with lab systems, and theoreticians. I encourage people working within the group to collaborate with one another, as well as with me. I am particularly happy when people leave the group to take up positions elsewhere, especially when they set up their own groups.
We are always keen to welcome new researchers into the group – either as sabbatical visitors or as longer-term Ph.D. students or fellows. If I have funded positions they will be advertised on this website and more widely. But I am also happy to welcome researchers who have secured their own funding into the group.
Current research
Professor of Zoology
University of Oxford
Website
I am Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford. I am interested in using structured population models parameterized with data from both laboratory and field systems to link ecological and evolutionary theory. I have worked on systems ranging from laboratory populations of bulb mites, through experimental populations of guppies living wild in Trinidad to the reintroduced population of wolves living in Yellowstone. My recent work has shown that we should expect parameters that describe ecological change and those that characteristic evolution to vary together in the face of environmental change.
I did my Ph.D. in plant ecology at Imperial College London before conducting post-doctoral research at the Institute of Zoology in London and the University of Cambridge on free-living populations of red deer and Soay sheep. In 2004 I returned to Imperial College. In January 2013 I left my position as Professor of Population Biology there and took up the Professorship of Zoology at the University of Oxford. In 2013 I became associate head of department. I am editor of the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Research InterestsI am interested in ecology, evolution and conservation. I am particularly interested in understanding the ecological and evolutionary impacts that environmental change has on natural systems. How will different species and ecosystems respond to different types of environmental change?
I have recently addressed this question by developing structured models to link population dynamics, quantitative genetics, population genetics and life history theory. Models are needed as they provide a mathematical framework that is critical to understanding natural systems – systems that are often not amenable to replicated experimentation. Models can be analyzed to provide insight into how natural systems will respond to change, as well as being used to pose hypotheses and make predictions.
Models are only useful if they can be parameterized with data collected by empiricists. The types of model I typically work with can be parameterized with individual-level life history data. Depending upon the complexity of the models, they can be analyzed either numerically or analytically.
I enjoy collaborating, both with field biologists, and theoreticians. Typically within the group we have a mixture of field biologists, experimental biologists working with lab systems, and theoreticians. I encourage people working within the group to collaborate with one another, as well as with me. I am particularly happy when people leave the group to take up positions elsewhere, especially when they set up their own groups.
We are always keen to welcome new researchers into the group – either as sabbatical visitors or as longer-term Ph.D. students or fellows. If I have funded positions they will be advertised on this website and more widely. But I am also happy to welcome researchers who have secured their own funding into the group.
Current research
- The phenotypic, life history and population dynamics of Yellowstone wolves. Along with Sarah Cubaynes and Jack Massey I have recently been collaborating with Doug Smith, Dan MacNulty and Dan Stahler of the Yellowstone wolf project. We have been conducting statistical analysis and constructing and analyzing models to investigate how hunting, disease and climate change might impact both wolves and the wider Yellowstone ecosystem. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone provides a wonderful example of an ecosystem cascade. It is a joy to try to model this system.
- The role of predation and interspecific competition on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of Trinidadian guppies. David Reznick’s guppy system is the post-child for rapid evolution. The guppy system is remarkable because evolution is repeatable, and guppies can be studied in the wild, in semi-natural mesocosms and in the lab. It is one of the few natural systems I am aware of where observation, field and laboratory experimental can be combined. I have recently started modeling the eco-evolutionary dynamics of this system with David, Andres Lopez-Sepulcre, Joe Travis and Ron Bassar.
- The societal and healthcare consequences of the human obesity epidemic. One of my longest and most fruitful collaborations has been with Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University. Tulja, Duncan Gillespie and I have recently started collaborating on applying many of the methods Tulja and I have developed over the years to understand the human obesity epidemic, and to hopefully develop successful public health strategies.
- The development and application of structured models to address questions in comparative demography. Jean-Michel Gaillard is another long-term collaborator. Jean-Michel, Tulja and I have conducted various comparative demographic analyses over the past few years, and we continue to look for general cross species patterns in life history and population dynamics.
- The population, quantitative genetic and life history dynamics of silvereyes. I have recently begun collaborating with Sonya Clegg. Sonya now runs the silvereye study started by Jiro Kikkawa in 1968. The detailed individual life history data are ideal to understand how environmental change influences body size and beak morphology of silvereyes on Heron Island, Queensland.