Elliot C Howard-Spink

After completing my undergraduate in Biological sciences as the University of Oxford, I taught for two years in a secondary school and sixth-form in Birmingham. Alongside teaching full time, I completed a PGCE at Birmingham City University, as well as the Teach First Leadership Development Programme.

My research interests primarily revolve around the evolution of animal behaviours, and how these behaviours respond to environmental change, spanning disciplines from animal cognition to behavioural ecology. My undergraduate dissertation examined how foliar imidacloprid sprays may affect the web-building and hunting strategies of common orb-weaver spiders. In my graduate studies I am hoping to transition towards a vertebrate focus.

I also maintain a keen interest in education research, policy, and pedagogy, and am keen to find opportunities to get involved with discussions of educational reform.

My current research will surround wild primate behaviours. I will be broadly investigating the cognitive implications of different chimpanzee behaviours in the wild, as well as trying to establish a clearer understanding of their evolutionary functions. The types of behaviours that I am interested in vary greatly; however, within the focus of the DPhil, I am likely going to pursue communicative behaviours.

Publications will be coming soon