Overview

I am a Postodoctoral Research Fellow of the British Academy for Social Science on Penryn campus. My research focusses on the combinatorial communication of animals, its evolution & the insights we can gain into the evolution of human language.

I currently investigate the combinatorial communication of wild Chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus Ruficeps), a cooperatively breeding passerine from outback Australia (NSW). Specifically, I investigate the structure of vocal sequences, their predictibility in relation to context and other factors susceptible to influence note combinations (e.g. individual identity, age). I work in collaboration with Pr A. Russell to co-supervises two Masters students (E. Tew & H. Mylne), as well as with Pr S. Townsend (University of Zürich).