Current Lab Members

Junn Kitt Foon
Twitter: @jjkfoon

Norfolk Island land snails face the four factors of being species-rich, mostly endemic, poorly understood and threatened by human impacts. Working with museum, zoo, industry and land managers, Junn is studying the ecology and population genetics of the island’s land snails, with a hope to bring them a few steps back from the brink of extinction.

Hannah Smart

PhD Student – Western Sydney University 2020 - 2024

Hannah’s PhD project looks into the murky world of antipredator defenses that are deployed once prey have been discovered. Many ‘secondary defences’ are poorly understood so Hannah will be well inside uncharted territory. The exciting potential of Hannah’s project is further escalated by her ‘the weirder the better’ attitude. Follow Hannah on twitter for dispatches!

Dr James Bickerstaff

James has joined the team to apply his considerable molecular skills to the population genetics of Acripeza (the mountain katydid). With the wonderful help of museum curators and collections staff across the country, he is extracting DNA from legs of pinned katydids collected from the entire east coast of Australia.

Connor Marsland

Master of Research Student

Connor is being bedazzled by spots and stripes and blocks and warnings. What IS the deal with stripes?

Past Lab Members

Brandon Long

Research Assistant Western Sydney University 2020 - 2021

Which Australian invertebrates should we prioritise for conservation and which were impacted by the fires of Australia’s Black Summer? Brandon tackled this massive question for an undergraduate project which turned into an ongoing project on which he is now employed as a research assistant.

Jack Banks

Undergraduate Project – 2020
Western Sydney University
Supervisor: Kate Umbers

How are invertebrates faring in response to the Blue Mountains fires? Jack’s project compared biodiversity in burnt and unburnt sites.

Alex Barley
Twitter: @birdsbugsbones

Master of Research student 2018 - 2019
Western Sydney University
Supervisors: Dr Kate Umbers, Prof John Hunt

Stemming from a love of visual arts, Alex is interested in predator-prey interactions and what role patterns and colours play in them. They are currently looking at just what components make these displays effective at deterring predation using the masters of visual ecology, bugs! Through this, they hope to better understand the evolution of eye-catching animals like mantises and, of course, the mountain katydid.

Brendan Baker
Twitter: @BrendanBakerBio

Master of Research student 2018 - 2109
Western Sydney University
Supervisors: Dr Kate Umbers, Dr Emily Burdfield-Steel, Dr Clarissa House

Brendan seeks to understand how chemical defences keep invertebrates safe from their predators. He investigates the toxins secreted by the aposematic mountain katydid, and how a potential predators’ experience of tasting this foul-tasting cocktail discourages them from returning for a second meal!

Julia Ryeland
Twitter: @JuliaRyeland

PhD Student 2016 - 2020
Western Sydney University
Supervisors: Dr Ricky Spencer, Dr Kate Umbers and Dr Clarissa House

Julia's PhD project investigates the mating system of the humble emu!

Visit Julia's website: http://juliaryeland.weebly.com

Jodie Gruber
Twitter: @grubehaviour

Postdoctoral Research Associate 2019 - 2019
Western Sydney University

Dr Gruber specialises in animal cognition and is therefore an integral part of the team focused on startle displays. She completed her PhD at University of Sydney with Rick Shine and was co-supervised at Macquarie University by Martin Whiting taking a comparative approach to understanding learning and memory in cane toads from populations across the world. I know, so cool.

Sonu Yadav
Twitter: @yadav_sonu21

PhD Student 2016 - 2019
Macquarie University
Supervisors: Dr Rachael Dudaniec and Dr Kate Umbers

Drivers of landscape genetic patterns and environmental adaptation in Australian grasshoppers'
Sonu commenced her PhD in August 2016 and is investigating the role of genetic adaptation, landscape connectivity and environmental variables in determining species’ ranges and phenotypic traits along latitudinal and elevational gradients using genomic data.

Tom White 

Part-time Postdoctoral Researcher 2016 - 2017
Western Sydney University

Tom was on board for a katydid bonanza. The endless exciting questions, experiments and data on mountain katydids kept him busy over the 2016-2017 in addition to his main role at Macquarie working on butterfly schmutterflies. Tom moved on to become a big cheese lab leader at The University of Sydney - check out the awesome Evolutionary and Sensory Ecology Lab here!

Griffin Taylor-Dalton

Research Intern 2015
Western Sydney University

In addition to being involved in the corroboree frog model project looking coloration of the frogs and how this correlates with their likelihood of being attacked by predators, Griffin worked on several aspects of red-crowned toadlet biology. Griffin moved on to a environmental consulting job, who knows where that will take him!

Dr Tonya Haff

Part-time Postdoctoral Researcher  2014 - 2017
Western Sydney University

Tonya joined a project lead by Kate and Prof Johanna Mappes (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) to work on the survival value of the mountain katydid's defensive display. Tonya's extensive expertise in avian biology made her a critical collaborator on the project. Tonya is well-known for her research on white-browed scrub wren communication, championing and editing the second edition of The Natural History of UC Santa Cruz Campus, and her awesome taxidermy skills. Tonya moved on to work at the Australian National Wildlife Collection.

Niki McCarthy

Research Intern 2015
Western Sydney University & UNSW Sydney
co-supervisor: Dr Lisa Schwanz

Niki likes all creatures great and small. Combining the two, Niki worked with Kate and Dr Lisa Schwanz from UNSW researching inheritance patterns and colouration in Jacky Dragon lizards. This involved taking hundreds of photos of baby lizards, hopefully getting their good side each time! Niki moved on to pursue the farm life in South Australia.

Michael Kelly [@MBJKelly]

Research Intern 2015 - present
Western Sydney University

The visually spectacular Southern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree) is currently listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. Michael helped work on understanding predator behaviour and learning processes associated with the function of the corroboree frog's colour pattern. Michael and Griffin (above) made a unmentionable number of clay model frogs for field experiments! Michael moved on to Marie Herberstein’s Lab at Macquarie University to complete a MRes.

Jordyn Crossley

Summer Research Scholar 2016
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment - Western Sydney University
co-supervisor: Dr Ben Moore

Jordyn's project investigated the relationship between Senecio pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and their sequestration in the mountain katydid, a brightly coloured insect that preferentially eats Senecio. It is assumed that the katydid's colouration warns potential predators of their unprofitability, but whether and to what extent the katydids sequester PAs is unknown. To get to the bottom of this, Jordyn analysed the composition of the plants, the katydids and the katydids' defensive secretions (katydid vomit!). Jordyn moved on to work in vet sciences.

Giselle Muschett [@gisellemuchett]

PhD Student 2013 - 2016
Macquarie University
other supervisor: Prof Marie Herberstein

Giselle's project was on the Kosciuscola alpine grasshoppers at Macquarie University in the Herberstein Lab, co-supervised by Kate. Giselle worked on the evolution of fighting behaviour in this strange genus of orthopteroids using comparative behavioural methods to unravel what these grasshoppers are fighting for. Giselle, Marie and Kate are collaborating with Hojun Song at University of Central Florida, Nikolai Tatarnic at the Western Australian Museum. Giselle's masters research investigated manatee distribution and habitat use via aerial surveys and is well-known in central America for her book: An illustrated field guide to the birds of Panama. Giselle moved home to Central America and landed a job as a wildlife officer in the aviation world.

JP Lawrence [@JPLawrencePhoto]

2016 Endeavour Research Fellow
University of Mississippi

Project Description: Bright coloration of highly toxic animals is a classic problem in evolutionary biology. Neotropical poison frogs have propelled our understanding of the conspicuous coloration evolution and provided textbook examples. The Australian poison frogs (Pseudophryne), however, have received little research attention. Pseudophryne are all toxic, often brightly colored, and endemic to the coastal Australia. This conspicuous coloration is thought to signal would-be predators warning them of toxicity. Pseudophryne are unique among frogs for synthesizing their own toxins and sequestering toxins from invertebrate prey. Although limited, evidence suggests that Pseudophryne can counterbalance these sources. Smith et al. (2002) found that P. semimarmorata are capable of producing and up-regulating toxins when dietary sources of toxins are lacking. This suggests that Pseudophryne maintain their toxicity level, which has implications for whether predators can predict toxicity risk associated with coloration.

JP returned to the US to complete his PhD and then moved on to the Monteiro Lab at the National University of Singapore.

Sebastiano De Bona [@sebadebona]

Visiting Field Assistant 2015
University of Jyväskylä, Finland

As an expert on deimatic displays, Sebastiano (Seba), visited us to conduct experiments on mountain katydid project. Seba and Kate spent many, many hours in the Snowy Mountains and emerged with some wonderful datasets. Seba's clever experimental design ideas and wonderful skills in the kitchen make him an awesome field buddy. After his epic Australian adventure, Seba returned to central Finland to begin his PhD on Trinidadian guppies with Andres Lopez-Sepulcre (Unviversity of Jyvaskyla, Finland), and hopes one day to revisit the mountain katydids to continue to uncover their secrets.

Brighton Downing

Honours Student 2015
University of Western Australia
co-supervisor: Dr Nicki Mitchell

Project Description: It is generally assumed that the conspicuous acoustic signals made by anuran males are their primary mode of communication. However, acoustic signals carry many costs. Additionally, some species call from cryptic locations and thus, localisation of mates may be aided by chemical cues. Among anurans, evidence of chemical communication for mate choice is scarce, but preliminary evidence suggests that chemical cues regulate reproductive behaviours. Thus, Brighton is working to determine whether female Crawling Frogs (Pseudophryne guentheri) are capable of assessing male qualities via acoustic as well as chemical cues in addition to whether females preferentially utilise acoustic or chemical cue to localise preferred mates.

Dr James O'Hanlon [@jamohanlon]

Part Time Research Associate 2014 - 2015
Macquarie University & University of Wollongong

James' model making prowess is second to none and he joined the team looking at defensive colouration in Australia's poison frogs (Pseudophryne). James' beautiful frog models are used in large scale experiments to delve further into the behavioural ecology of these toxic little toadlets.

James was part of the team working on the function of colour change in Kosciuscola. James visited Devi Stuart-Fox at the University of Melbourne to make spectral reflectance measures  of grasshoppers across the visual and near infrared spectrum and together we're building these data into a thermal tolerance model for Kosciucola. James is better known for his awesome work on the orchid mantis and other mantises to boot. Find out more about James' research here.

Dr Ainsley Seago [@americanbeetles]

Part Time Research Associate 2014
Macquarie University & University of Melbourne

Ainsley joined team grasshopper as an expert in lucid key construction. Her mission was to work up a lucid key for the Praxibulini (Acrididae) using the power of computers. Ainsley is best known for her taxonomic work on beetles, her fascination with how they produce their colours and her illustrative genius. Find out more about her here on her blog: trufflebeetles.com, here for drawing: beetlesink, and here for her life as a new mom: operationbabyhave.

Stephanie Wilson

Part Time Research Associate 2014
Macquarie University

Steph was working in the Macquarie University Microscopy Facility to image temperature-dependent colour change across the Kosciuscola genus. With James' Irish heritage,  Scott's red hair and Steph visiting from Scotland, this project has become a genuinely celtic affair. Steph has picked up where Scott left off (to start a postdoc in Brasillia), continuing with ultramicrotome slicing and dicing for TEM.

Dr Scott Fabricant [@safabric]

Part Time Research Associate 2014
Macquarie University

Scott was the microscopy contingent of the Kosciuscola colour change team and carried out some SEM and TEM analysis. Scott worked in the Macquarie University Microscopy Facility to image temperature-dependent colour change across the genus. As of 2014, Scott is best known for his research on coloration and aposematism in the harlequin bug, especially regarding the role iridescence in deterring predators.

Brianne Messer

Biological Sciences Summer Scholar 2012 - 2014
Macquarie University

2013 / 2014 project - The alpine katydid (Acripeza reticulata) has a remarkable anti-predator display. Brianne helped quantify the toxicity of A. reticulata in relation to the intensity of its colourful display. 

2012 / 2013 project - Animals of the blue layer live in oceanic surface waters and wash up on beaches all over the world. They wash up onto Sydney beaches after a few days of prevailing easterlies. Brianne and I were describing the colour of the many hydrozoan and molluscan members of blue layer and thinking about why they are all blue.

Peter Mahoney

Honours Student 2012
Macquarie University
co-supervisor: Prof Marie Herberstein

Peter's project investigated the role of thermochromy (temperature controlled colour change) in signalling fighting ability in the male chameleon grasshopper (Kosciuscola tristis). He measured the colour and temperature of grasshoppers in the field (near Thredbo, NSW) and compared it to the maximum brightness grasshoppers could achieve when warmed up to 30°C. He then fought matched and unmatched pairs of grasshoppers testing classical hypotheses in antagonistic escalation.