Dr Amy Leedale
| Post Nominals | BSc PhD AFHEA |
|---|---|
| Biography | I graduated from the University of Leeds with a First Class honours degree in Biology. I later received a Masters degree with Distinction in Animal Behaviour from Manchester Metropolitan University, where I investigated the function of bird song in blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla. I was awarded a NERC-funded PhD from the University of Sheffield in 2018, studying kin recognition in a population of long-tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus in the peak district, UK. Upon completion of my PhD, I spent some time as a Teaching Associate in Animal Science at the University of Nottingham, and an Associate Lecturer in Animal Behaviour at Manchester Metropolitan University, before taking a postdoctoral research position at the University of Cambridge. My postdoctoral work broadly investigated aspects of social and reproductive behaviour in cooperatively breeding meerkats Suricata suricatta and Damaraland mole-rats Fukomys damarensis in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa. I was employed as a Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Liverpool Hope University, where I pursued my interests in cooperative breeding and bioacoustics, before my appointment as a Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Salford in November 2022. |
| Research Interests | I am a behavioural ecologist with a broad interest in cooperation and reproductive behaviour. I aim to combine field observations, bioacoustics and molecular genetics to address evolutionary questions in natural populations. I primarily work with birds and mammals, and I am particularly interested in social organisation and communication in group-living species. Much of my research focuses on how social vertebrates recognise their relatives in the contexts of cooperation and inbreeding. |
| Teaching and Learning | I contribute to a series of modules, including Wildlife Behavioural Ecology, Introduction to Animal Behaviour, Practical Ecology and Conservation, Bird Biology and Conservation, Conservation in Zoos, Biodiversity, Research Skills and Diving for Marine Conservation. I supervise students interested in using field observations and experiments to address evolutionary questions, particularly in the contexts of social and reproductive behaviour. |
| Scopus Author ID | 57189648501 |
| PhD Supervision Availability | Yes |
| PhD Topics | Behavioural ecology, Animal behaviour, Social evolution, Reproductive strategies, Cooperative breeding, Kin recognition, Inbreeding, Ornithology, Bioacoustics |