The Sumner lab seeks to understand how and why sociality and social behaviour evolves, from the genome to the phenotype, through the interplay of genes, behaviour and the environment. Our study organisms are wasps, bees, termites and ants.
Current Postdoc Fellows
Dr Christopher Wyatt – Comparative genomics and social evolution. NERC-funded.
Dr Cintia Akemi Oi – Project Wassup – molecular regulation of behavioural transitions in solitary wasps. MSCA -IF
Current PhD Students
Owen Corbett – Aggression-mediated queen succession in tropical Polistes wasps. NERC London DTP. Co-supervisor: Dr Max Reuter, University College London.
Lewis Revely – The evolutionary pathway and molecular mechanisms underpinning the evolution of social complexity in termites. NERC London DTP Studentship. Co-supervisor: Dr Paul Eggleton, Natural History Museum.
Iona Cunningham-Eurich – Generalism and specialism in parasitoid wasps: evolutionary, genomic and behavioural perspectives. London NERC DTP. Co-supervisor: Dr Gavin Broad, Natural History Museum.
Romuald Tcheutchoua – Harnessing native social wasps as biocontrol agents for smallholder agriculture.
Alicja Witwicka – Molecular responses to pesticide exposure in solitary bees. London NERC DTP. Primary Supervisor: Dr Yannick Wurm, Queen Mary University of London
Hayley McMechan – Understanding the evolution of plant behaviour in response to rapid environmental change. London NERC DTP. Primary Supervisor: Prof Jon Bridle, University College London.
Idris Adams – Metapopulations of solitary wasps in a dynamic environment. London NERC DTP. Co-supervisor: Prof Tim Blackburn, University College London.
Current Technicians
Simon Murray – Senior Research Technician developing high throughput pipelines for the Agri-Ecology field.
Interested in joining us?
Get in touch to talk about internships, PhD studentships, postdocs, fellowship applications. We embrace equality in science, and welcome expressions of interest from the widest diversity of people, from all backgrounds, geographical regions, walks of life, no matter what life has thrown at you. Read about our active contributions towards equality in science. Email Seirian with your ideas.