To celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, we are excited to share a collection of blog posts showcasing the work of some of the BES community. In each post, they discuss their experiences in ecology, as well as what this year’s theme, ‘Accelerate Action’, means to them.

What work do you do?  

I’m a macroecologist and macroevolutionary biologist interested in understanding broad scale patterns of biodiversity. I’m also interested in how we can use natural history collections to study global change. The combination of working in a museum and having  statistical expertise means I work on lots of different kinds of projects. Currently I’ve got projects on convergent evolution, birds on islands, dinosaur biogeography, invasive crabs, stripe patterns in antelope, susceptibility of seabirds to plastic pollution and vertebral diversity in mammals to name a few!  

How did you get into ecology?  

I work a lot with the BES but I’m not really an ecologist, I’m an evolutionary biologist by training. However, a lot of evolution only makes sense if you think about ecological concepts too, and vice versa. I always loved animals as a child and assumed I’d be a vet (or a Jedi ballerina), but a series of chance events led me to a PhD in macroecology and macroevolution instead. I think learning about the amazingly weird animals found in the Burgess Shale just after the Cambrian explosion during my undergrad was the point that I knew I wanted to keep learning about this sort of stuff for the rest of my life! 

Who inspires you?  

Lots of people! I’m quite against the idea of putting people on pedestals – science is a team effort and it seems weird to idolise just one person. I’m inspired by the people I work with who have a passion for one small specific group of animals. I’m inspired by young activists who are fighting to keep our planet alive despite risking prison, deportation and worse. I’m inspired by statisticians who understand complex equations without even trying. Or maybe that last one should be intimidated? 

How do you think we could ‘accelerate action’ within ecology and science, to move towards gender equality?  

Tough question! I think the move towards more intersectional diversity initiatives has been key, i.e. not just thinking about gender but also about other axes of diversity. Working together equitably can increase our power to make change for everyone, not just women. In terms of concrete actions, quotas are really unpopular (and illegal in some places) but really effective as long as support exists for people once they’ve been hired. But small actions like continuing to push for inclusion at conferences, or calling out colleagues who exhibit biases, or mentoring diverse students and colleagues can be really powerful too. Research suggests we can’t sit on our laurels or things return to the status quo, so we all need to keep pushing for change even if just in small ways.