Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Dr Sarah Hodge

Dr Sarah Hodge

Associate Professor in Zoology

 S.J.Hodge@exeter.ac.uk

 01326 255078

 Stella Turk Building B046-129

 

University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE

Overview

I am an Associate Professor in Biosciences at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus and am heavily involved in both undergraduate and MSc teaching, having previously held Director of Education and programme lead roles for Biosciences on this campus. I am currently joint Deputy Head of Department for the Centre of Ecology & Conservation. I also lead on widening participation activities within the department and provide pastoral support to International Students.

Qualifications

2012: Senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy

2004: PhD University of Cambridge

1996: BSc University of Bristol

Career

2022-present Joint Deputy Head of Department for Biosciences Penryn (CEC)

2020-present Associate Professor, Centre for Eclogy & Conservation, University of Exeter

2019-2022 Joint Director of Education for Biosciences Penryn (CEC)

2017-2019 Joint Director of Education for CLES Penryn (CEC and CGES)

2012-2020 Senior Lecturer, Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter

2012 Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

2010-2012: Lecturer, Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter

2008-2010: NERC funded post doc, Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter “Reproductive conflict in the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose” with Dr Mike Cant.

2004-2008: NERC funded post doc, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. “Intrasexual selection and reproductive strategies in cooperative meerkats” with Prof Tim Clutton-Brock.

2000-2004: PhD Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. “The evolution of cooperation in the communal breeding banded mongoose”

I was away on maternity leave from March 2014 to January 2015. Between 2015 and 2018 I worked 0.6 FTE and 2018-2020 0.8 FTE. I am currently 0.8 FTE.

Back to top

Research

Research interests

My research background lies in understanding the causes and consequences of conflict over reproduction in cooperative animal societies. In particular, I am interested in understanding how conflicts over reproduction are resolved, and the consequences that variation in reproductive skew has for the extent that individuals cooperate and compete. Much of my research to date has used a combination of field experiments and long term life-history data in two cooperative mammal species, the high-skew meerkat (Suricatta suricata) and the low-skew banded mongoose (Mungos mungo).

I also have an interest in conservation, and have run a number of projects investigating the impacts of human activities on British mammal populations. These include projects studying the influence of habitat management on harvest mice, water shrews, hedgehogs and small mammal populations in general. These projects are largely conducted alongside undergraduate and masters students.

Research networks


Mike Cant, University of Exeter
Tim Clutton-Brock, University of Cambridge
Andy Young, University of Exeter
Andy Russell, University of Exeter
Goran Spong, University of Umea
Alex Thornton, University of Exeter
Matt Bell, University of Edinburgh
Hazel Nichols, Liverpool John Moores University
 

Back to top

Publications

Journal articles

Vitikainen EIK, Marshall HH, Thompson FJ, Sanderson JL, Bell MBV, Gilchrist JS, Hodge SJ, Nichols HJ, Cant MA (2017). Biased escorts: offspring sex, not relatedness explains alloparental care patterns in a cooperative breeder. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Abstract.
Thompson FJ, Cant MA, Marshall HH, Vitikainen, Sanderson JL, Nichols HJ, Gilchrist JS, Bell MBV, Hodge SJ, Young AJ, et al (2017). Explaining negative kin discrimination in a cooperative mammal society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA
Vitikainen EIK, Cant MA, Sanderson JL, Mitchell C, Nichols HJ, Marshall HH, Thompson FJ, Gilchrist JS, Hodge SJ, Johnstone RA, et al (2016). Evidence of Oxidative Shielding of Offspring in a Wild Mammal. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 4  Author URL.
Vitikainen EIK, Cant MA, Sanderson JL, Mitchell C, Nichols HJ, Marshall HH, Thompson FJ, Gilchrist JS, Hodge SJ, Johnstone RA, et al (2016). Evidence of oxidative shielding of offspring in a wild mammal. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Inzani E, Marshall HH, Sanderson JL, Nichols HJ, Thompson FJ, Kalema-Zikusoka G, Hodge SJ, Cant MA, Vitikainen EIK (2016). Female reproductive competition explains variation in prenatal investment in wild banded mongooses. Scientific Reports, 6 Abstract.
Thompson F, Marshall HH, Sanderson JL, Vitikainen EIK, Nichols HJ, Gilchrist J, Young AJ, Hodge SJ, Cant MA (2016). Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences
Sanderson JL, Stott I, Young AJ, Vitikainen E, Hodge SJ, Cant MA (2015). The origins of consistent individual differences in cooperation in wild banded mongooses. Animal Behaviour
Sanderson JL, Young AJ, Hodge SJ, Kyabulima S, Walker S, Cant MA (2014). Hormonal mediation of a carry-over effect in a cooperative mammal. Functional Ecology
Sanderson JL, Young AJ, Hodge SJ, Kyabulima S, Walker S, Cant MA (2014). Hormonal mediation of a carry-over effect in a wild cooperative mammal. Functional Ecology
Cant MA, Nichols, HJ, Johnstone, RA, Hodge SJ (2014). Policing of reproduction by hidden threats in a cooperative mammal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 111, 326-330.
Nichols HJ, Bell MBV, Hodge SJ, Cant MA (2012). Resource limitation moderates the adaptive suppression of subordinate breeding in a cooperatively breeding mongoose. Behavioral Ecology, 23(3), 635-642. Abstract.
Bell MBV, Nichols HJ, Gilchrist JS, Cant MA, Hodge SJ (2012). The cost of dominance: suppressing subordinate reproduction affects the reproductive success of dominant female banded mongooses. Proc Biol Sci, 279(1728), 619-624. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hodge SJ, Bell MBV, Cant MA (2011). Reproductive competition and the evolution of extreme birth synchrony in a cooperative mammal. Biol Lett, 7(1), 54-56. Abstract.  Author URL.
Jordan NR, Mwanguhya F, Kyabulima S, Ruedi P, Cant MA (2011). Scent marking in wild banded mongooses: 3. Intrasexual overmarking in females. Animal Behaviour, 81, 51-66.
Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge SJ, Flower TP, Spong G, Young AJ (2010). Adaptive suppression of subordinate reproduction in cooperative mammals. American Naturalist, 176, 664-673.
Cant MA, Hodge SJ, Bell MBV, Gilchrist JS, Nichols HJ (2010). Reproductive control via eviction (but not the threat of eviction) in banded mongooses. Proc Biol Sci, 277(1691), 2219-2226. Abstract.  Author URL.
Nichols HJ, Amos W, Cant MA, MBV B, Hodge SJ (2010). Top males gain high reproductive success by guarding more successful females in a cooperatively breeding mongoose. Animal Behaviour, 80, 649-657.
Hodge SJ, Thornton A, Flower TP, Clutton-Brock TH (2009). Food limitation increases aggression in juvenile meerkats. Behavioral Ecology, 20(5), 930-935. Abstract.
Hodge SJ, Bell MBV, Mwanguhya F, Kyabulima S, Waldick RC, Russell AF (2009). Maternal weight, offspring competitive ability, and the evolution of communal breeding. Behavioral Ecology, 20(4), 729-735. Abstract.
Thornton A, Hodge SJ (2009). The development of foraging microhabitat preferences in meerkats. Behavioral Ecology, 20(1), 103-110. Abstract.
Hodge SJ, Manica A, Flower TP, Clutton-Brock TH (2008). Determinants of reproductive success in dominant female meerkats. J Anim Ecol, 77(1), 92-102. Abstract.  Author URL.
Spong GF, Hodge SJ, Young AJ, Clutton-Brock TH (2008). Factors affecting the reproductive success of dominant male meerkats. Mol Ecol, 17(9), 2287-2299. Abstract.  Author URL.
Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge SJ, Flower TP (2008). Group size and the suppression of subordinate reproduction in Kalahari meerkats. Animal Behaviour, 76(3), 689-700. Abstract.
Hodge SJ (2007). Counting the costs: the evolution of male-biased care in the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose. Animal Behaviour, 74(4), 911-919. Abstract.
Hodge SJ, Flower TP, Clutton-Brock TH (2007). Offspring competition and helper associations in cooperative meerkats. Animal Behaviour, 74(4), 957-964. Abstract.
Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge SJ, Spong G, Russell AF, Jordan NR, Bennett NC, Sharpe LL, Manser MB (2006). Intrasexual competition and sexual selection in cooperative mammals. Nature, 444(7122), 1065-1068. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hodge SJ (2005). Helpers benefit offspring in both the short and long-term in the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose. Proc Biol Sci, 272(1580), 2479-2484. Abstract.  Author URL.

Chapters

Hodge SJ (2009). Understanding variation in reproductive skew: directions for future empirical research. In Hager, R, Jones C (Eds.) Reproductive skew in vertebrates; proximate and ultimate causes, Cambridge University Press, 439-466.

Back to top

External Engagement and Impact

Committee/panel activities

Back to top

Teaching

I teach the following modules

  • BIO1430 Skills and Careers (coordinator)
  • LES3001 Preparing to Graduate (coordinator)
  • BIO3400 Living in Groups (coordinator)
  • BIOM4030 Planning and Leading Conservation Projects (coordinator - module delivered by Jamie Copsey, IUCN)
  • BIO3419 Yukon Alaska fieldcourse

Modules

2023/24


Back to top

Office Hours:

Each week I will have two office hours on campus. Please come to my office at the times below (room B046-129,  top floor of the Stella Turk building), there is no need to book. 

  • Tuesday 11-12pm 
  • Fridays 1-2pm 

I'm also happy to arrange a separate appointment outside of these times - just drop me an e-mail (S.J.Hodge@exeter.ac.uk)

Back to top

Edit Profile