Biography
I am a behavioral and physiological ecologist. I joined the Biotic Interactions Group at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge as a Ph.D. student in 2025. Prior to this, I worked as a Research Assistant at the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. I received my B.S. in Biology from National Taiwan Normal University (2019) and my M.S. in Ecology and Evolution from National Taiwan University (2022).
Research
I am interested in how animals respond and adapt to their environments, particularly through changes in their morphology, physiology, and behaviour.
My current PhD work focuses on how host plant nutrition influences exoskeleton development and susceptibility to biopesticides in leaf-footed bugs.
Previously, I conducted extended fieldwork to investigate how local climate determines burying beetle breeding phenology. I also used laboratory-based respirometry to examine the energetic costs of stag beetle weaponry and its relationship with fighting behaviour.
Publications
Chen, H., Rubenstein, D.R., Mai, G.S., Chang, C.F., Shen, S.F. (2025). Circadian activity predicts breeding phenology in the Asian burying beetle Nicrophorus nepalensis. Royal Society Open Science. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250624
Chen, H.†, Huang, S.P.†, Lin, C.P., Chen, Z.Y., Hsu, Y. (2024). Energetically costly weaponry in the large morph of male stag beetles. Journal of Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13222 (Cover story)
† denotes co-first authorship
Hsu, Y., Chen, H., Huang, S.P., Lin, C.P., Chen, Z.Y. (2025). Response to Packard (2025): Energetic costs of large weapons could constrain their size in large male stag beetles Cyclommatus mniszechi. Journal of Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.70063
