The Bailey Lab

Professor Nathan W. Bailey

Nathan is a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of St Andrews, where he studies genomics of adaptive evolution and animal behaviour. Particular goals include understanding how sexual signals evolve, the role of phenotypic plasticity in evolution, how mating behaviour evolves, and the genomic causes of speciation. He’s fond of crickets but studies a range of organisms.

Nathan teaches evolutionary biology and animal behaviour to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students. He’s an adoptive gay dad, avid gardener, and has definite musical preferences which shall remain obscure to avoid embarrassment. You can find his experiment (N = 1) about the effects of aging here.

One of the joys of being a scientist is having the chance to collaborate with so many bright, motivated, and intellectually generous students and colleagues. Scroll down to learn about the research group, past and present.

Group photos. Yes we have fun.

Lab picnic feat. traditional Scottish neckwear

Who replaced my students with these chill dudes

This is what happens when they do fieldwork without me

The crickets live in nice places

With collaborators Kathryn McNamara, Nicola-Anne Rutkowski, & Therésa Jones

Picnic during the annual sunny day in Scotland

With collaborators Oscar Gaggiotti & Reuven Dukas

Post-doctoral researchers

Smart cookies.

Dr. Leeban Yusuf

I am interested in the genetic basis of reproductive isolation, the impact of biogeography on speciation and host-parasite coevolution. Species-agnostic but developing an appreciation for crickets.

Twitter: @LeebanHY

Email: ly36@st-andrews.ac.uk

Dr. Benito Wainwright

I am interested in how predictably nature overcomes trade-offs to fine-tune adaptations. I will take a comparative approach using the remarkable leaf mimicking wings of tropical katydids to understand how these evolutionary forces manifest in the same morphological structure.

Twitter: @benitoexplains

Email: jw14637@bristol.ac.uk

PhD students

Hire and promote these talented people.

Ana Drago-Rosa

I’m a 4th year PhD student researching the role of phenotypic plasticity in the rapid spread of the flatwing morph. My experiments involve studying interactions between abiotic and biotic plasticity, testing how the acoustic environment shapes gene expression, and looking at the role of male social group composition on mating outcomes.

email: adr30@st-andrews.ac.uk

Twitter: @AnaDrago9

Renjie Zhang

Exploring the genetics basis of wing dimorphism in Hawaii crickets and co-evolution between crickets and eavesdropping fly from transcriptomic, genomic and behavioral perspectives.

Twitter: @Renjie_Zhang

Email: rz40@st-andrews.ac.uk

Thomas Green

Researching the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in crickets and at large. Involved in EDI, undergraduate demonstrating, and a touch of science communication.

Twitter: @AnimalSexpert

email: tg208@st-andrews.ac.uk

Shangzhe Zhang

Shangzhe is interested in explaining evolutionary phenomenon with multi-omics data and bioinformatics methods. He is currently working on the genomic basis of various adaptive wing morphologies in Hawaiian crickets.

Email: sz75@st-andrews.ac.uk