
Professor Andy Radford
M.A. (Cantab), M.Sc.(Oxon.), Ph.D.(Cantab.)
Expertise
My research group study social behaviour and communication - how vocalisations are used to mediate cooperation and conflict - and the impacts of human disturbances on wildlife.
Current positions
Professor of Behavioural Ecology
School of Biological Sciences
Contact
Media contact
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Research interests
My research group currently pursue two main themes. The first of these concerns the behaviour and vocalisations of social animals. Using a combination of observational data, sound recordings and a variety of experimental manipulations, we work on several different bird, mammal, fish and invertebrate study systems in captivity and around the world (South Africa, Australia, Panama, Trinidad), including the Dwarf Mongoose Research Project which we established in 2011. Specific current research interests include:
- Consequences of out-group conflict
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Sentinel behaviour and vigilance patterns
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Alarm-call use and development
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Decision-making and information use
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Behavioural stress
The second major topic concerns the potential impact of anthropogenic noise. Using a combination of laboratory and field experiments (in Scotland, France, French Polynesia, Malawi and Australia), we are considering how this global pollutant affects the behaviour, physiology and development of a variety of fish and invertebrate species, as well as the dwarf mongooses.
For further details, see our research site.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Preparing for War
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/10/2022 to 30/09/2025
Preparing for War
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/10/2022 to 30/09/2025
Impacts of anthropogenic noise on reproduction and survival
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/11/2016 to 31/10/2019
OUTGROUP: Consequences of out-group conflict
Principal Investigator
Description
The aim of this project is to determine the proximate and ultimate consequences of a fundamental but neglected aspect of sociality: out-group conflict. In a wide range of social species,…Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/07/2016 to 31/12/2022
NERC Internship Noise1
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/05/2013 to 01/09/2013
Thesis supervisions
Vocal communication and the facilitation of social behaviour in the southern pied babbler (Turdoides bicolor)
Supervisors
Context-Dependent Contributions to Cooperative Behaviours
Supervisors
Consequences of within- and between-group conflict in dwarf mongooses
Supervisors
The effects of variation in anthropogenic noise on anti-predator behaviours in dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula)
Supervisors
Variation in alloparental care in dwarf mongooses
Supervisors
The adaptive value of males in simple eusocial insect societies
Supervisors
Social drivers of signature whistle complexity in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)
Supervisors
Polarization vision in crabs
Supervisors
Impacts of motorboat noise on the parental-care behaviours of two species of coral-reef damselfish (Pomacentridae).
Supervisors
Uncertainty and the evolution of altruism
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
01/07/2022Enhancing automated analysis of marine soundscapes using ecoacoustic indices and machine learning
Ecological Indicators
Experimental evidence that chronic outgroup conflict reduces reproductive success in a cooperatively breeding fish
eLife
Factors affecting follower responses to movement calls in cooperatively breeding dwarf mongooses
Animal Behaviour
Limiting motorboat noise on coral reefs boosts fish reproductive success
Nature Communications
Testing the acoustic adaptation hypothesis with vocalizations from three mongoose species
Animal Behaviour