Biography
I completed both my undergraduate and PhD degree here in Zoology. I then stayed on as a Junior Research Fellow at Clare College, after which I was offered a Lectureship in the department. I am now a Reader in Evolutionary Ecology.
Research
My research focuses on understanding patterns of individual movement, with an emphasis on disentangling its proximate mechanisms (e.g. grouping behaviour, territoriality, migratory behaviour, etc.) and its ultimate causes (e.g. fitness benefits, selection in metapopulations). Work in my group can be split into three broad areas: the study of the costs and benefits of individual movement strategies, including their role in collective decision making; the reconstruction of movement using population genetics, including the role of natural selection in allowing colonists to adapt to new environments; and the spatial ecology of species interactions, including disease dynamics. My research often involves the use mathematical and statistical modelling to make inferences from large ecological and genetic datasets, but we also have a dedicated laboratory to study fish shoaling behaviour and a number of field projects scattered around the world.
Find out more about my research on our group website.
Keywords
Movement ecology, population genetics, genomics, evolution, behaviour
Publications
1 Harcourt, J.L., Ang, T.Z., Sweetman, G., Johnstone, R.A., & Manica, A. (2009) Social feedback and the emergence of leaders and followers. Current Biology 19: 248-252
2 Eriksson, A., Betti, L., Friend, A.D., Lycett, S.J., Singarayer, J.S., von Cramon-Taubadel, N., Valdes, P.J., Balloux, F., & Manica, A. (2012) Late Pleistocene climate change and the global expansion of anatomically modern humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 109: 16089-16094
3 Eriksson, A., & Manica, A. (2012) The effect of ancient population structure on the degree of polymorphism shared between modern human populations and ancient hominins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 109: 13956-13960
4 Warmuth, V., Eriksson, A., Bower, M.A., Barker, G., Barrett, E., Hanks, B.K., Lid, S., Lomitashvilie, D., Ochir-Goryaevaf, M., Sizonovg, G.V., Soyonovh, V., & Manica, A. (2012) Reconstructing the origin and spread of horse domestication in the Eurasian steppe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 109: 8202-8206
