Katie Dunkley (currently at Oxford Biology) and Samuel Fabian (currently at Imperial College London & Florida International University) have been awarded BBSRC Fellowships. The BBSRC Fellowships scheme is supporting 19 future science leaders on pioneering projects that address some of society’s biggest challenges. It empowers outstanding early-career scientists, giving them the freedom to pursue bold ideas with the potential for lasting impact.
Mutualistic partnerships
Mutualistic partnerships – where species beneficially exchange rewards and services – are crucial for the survival and reproduction of nearly all life on Earth. But their persistence is a paradox: partners could gain more by exploiting each other or seeking better options elsewhere. The breakdown of mutualisms could lead to the unravelling of societies, destabilisation of ecosystems, and even extinction.
Katie’s research will test whether signalling just before interactions reduces the risk of exploitation and encourages mutualistic outcomes. She will focus on fish cleaning mutualisms, where client fish trade parasites as food for a health-enhancing cleaning service. To request this service, clients approach cleaners and often assume a distinct angled body orientation, known as a ‘pose’. Cleaners then choose whether to clean, exploit by biting off other material (e.g. scales), or ignore clients. When cleaners exploit their clients, clients often punish them aggressively.
Katie will use reward carrying biomimetic fish robots that can adopt angled postures, to test how the occurrence of posing alters the occurrence of mutualistic cleaning and exploitation. If signals promote mutualistic cleaning, it helps explain the persistence of mutualisms and other cooperative interactions in nature. Such insights are also relevant for industries like agriculture and aquaculture that utilise mutualisms. Katie says:
“Humans use handshakes to help us influence behaviour, build trust, and resolve conflicts. My research will test whether a similar 'handshake-like' signal explains the occurrence of beneficial cleaning in nature. Signals before interactions occur could help deter exploitation and guide partners toward cooperative outcomes.”
Aerial chases
Aerial chases are some of the most extreme tasks that animals perform. Controlling powered flight is challenging enough without also trying to hit a similarly fast-moving airborne target. Among aerial chases, the most extreme interactions occur between members of the same species battling for territory. These dogfights demand ultrafast reflexes and precise movement control. When two equally skilled rivals clash, speed and manoeuvrability often work against each other, forcing animals to make strategic trade-offs.
Sam’s research will focus on insects, using chasers’ sensory information and movement to model their rapid decision-making during dogfights. These models will capture the underlying rules and strategies of aerial combat. His work will also investigate the differences between winners and losers in territorial disputes. What is one individual able to do better than its rivals to ultimately be successful?
Most of this behaviour is too fast for our eyes to register. To capture these feats of aerobatics, Sam will use recent innovations in high-speed imaging to reconstruct the insect body movements in 3D. Sam says:
“I hope that by looking at intense aerial competition, I will be able to measure flight performance in animals pushing their limits. These tiny aviators have spent millennia training in their own version of a Top Gun academy, perfecting flight manoeuvres that even human engineers might learn from.”
