Professor Dylan Childs
School of Biosciences
Professor of Population Ecology, School Director of Education
Director of Education
+44 114 222 4313
Full contact details
School of Biosciences
C206
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
91直播
S10 2TN
- Profile
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- Professor, Chair in Population Biology (2022-present)
- Lecturer, 91直播 University (2016-2022)
- NERC Research Fellow, 91直播 University (2008-2016)
- Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, 91直播 University (2006-2008)
- Welcome Funded PDRA, 91直播 University (2005-2006)
- Equities Trader, Circe Trading (2003-2005)
- PhD Population Biology, Imperial College (1999-2003)
- Research interests
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I am a population biologist with interests at both the pure and applied ends of the spectrum. I follow an interdisciplinary approach, developing data-driven models to understand population dynamics and natural selection in laboratory and free-living animal and plant populations. I am particularly keen to understand how demographic, environmental and ecological processes interact to influence these processes. I also develop theory and methods for modelling and analysis of structured populations.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Books
- Getting Started with R: An Introduction for Biologists. Oxford University Press.
- Data-driven Modelling of Structured Populations: A Practical Guide to the Integral Projection Model. Springer.
Journal articles
- . Global Change Biology.
- . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(30), 18119-18126.
- . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 117(29), 17068-17073.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology.
- . Nature Communications, 11(1).
- . Ecology Letters, 23(4), 588-597.
- . Nature Sustainability, 3(1), 63-71.
- . Global Change Biology, 25(10), 3282-3293.
- . Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 286(1899).
- . New Phytologist.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(11), 2283-2293.
- . Ecology Letters, 21(11), 1693-1703.
- . Functional Ecology, 32(6), 1424-1435.
- . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 529-536.
- . Functional Ecology, 32(2), 496-508.
- . Pest Management Science.
- . J Theor Biol.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 329-342.
- . Ecology Letters, 19(3), 268-278.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 343-355.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 6(9), 1007-1017.
- . Oikos, 124(4), 458-468.
- . J Anim Ecol, 83(3), 528-545.
- . Journal of Ecology, 100(3), 577-585.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology.
- . NATURE, 466(7305), 482-U5.
All publications
Books
- . Oxford University Press.
- . Oxford University Press.
- Getting Started with R: An Introduction for Biologists. Oxford University Press.
- Data-driven Modelling of Structured Populations: A Practical Guide to the Integral Projection Model. Springer.
Journal articles
- . Ecology and Evolution, 14(10), e70484.
- . Journal of Infection, 106275-106275.
- . Ecology and Evolution, 14(6).
- . The American Naturalist, 203(6), 681-694.
- . Scientific Reports, 14(1).
- . Global Change Biology.
- . Ibis.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
- . Current Biology.
- . Remote Sensing, 14(17).
- . PLoS ONE, 17(7).
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
- . Pest Management Science.
- . Ecology Letters.
- . Journal of Zoology.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology, 90(6), 1398-1407.
- . Ecological Monographs.
- . Nature Communications, 12(1).
- . Ecology Letters.
- . Ecology.
- . Pest Management Science.
- . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(2), 155-164.
- . Nature Communications, 11(1).
- . Ecology Letters.
- . Journal of Ecology.
- . Conservation Biology.
- . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(30), 18119-18126.
- . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 117(29), 17068-17073.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology.
- . Nature Communications, 11(1).
- . Scientific Reports, 10(1).
- . Ecology Letters, 23(4), 588-597.
- . Science of The Total Environment, 705.
- . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(8), 4218-4227.
- . Nature Sustainability, 3(1), 63-71.
- . Ecological Modelling, 416.
- . Global Change Biology, 25(10), 3282-3293.
- . Pest Management Science.
- . Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 286(1899).
- . New Phytologist.
- . Oikos.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(11), 2283-2293.
- . Ecology Letters, 21(11), 1693-1703.
- . Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 33(8), 565-568.
- . Functional Ecology, 32(6), 1424-1435.
- . Journal of Theoretical Biology, 445, 120-127.
- . PLoS ONE, 13(5).
- . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 529-536.
- . Functional Ecology, 32(2), 496-508.
- . Weed Research, 58(1), 35-45.
- . Weed Research, 58(4), 250-258.
- . Pest Management Science.
- . J Theor Biol.
- . Weed Research, 56(5), 345-358.
- . Ecological Applications, 26(5), 1352-1369.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 329-342.
- . Current Biology, 26(4), R161-R164.
- . Ecology Letters, 19(3), 268-278.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(2), 343-355.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 6(9), 1007-1017.
- . Ecology Letters, 18(7), 597-611.
- . Oikos, 124(4), 458-468.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 5(2), 99-110.
- . Ecology and Evolution, 4(24), 4736-4750.
- . J Anim Ecol, 83(3), 528-545.
- . New Phytol, 198(1), 222-231.
- . Journal of Avian Biology.
- . Journal of Ecology, 100(3), 577-585.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology.
- . NATURE, 466(7305), 482-U5.
- . Proc Biol Sci, 277(1697), 3055-3064.
- . Proc Biol Sci, 277(1685), 1149-1151.
- . J R Soc Interface, 7(43), 309-319.
- . Curr Biol, 19(19), 1660-1664.
- . ISR J ECOL EVOL, 55(3), 227-231.
- . P NATL ACAD SCI USA, 105(30), 10466-10470.
- Estimating the functional form for the density dependence from life history data. ECOLOGY, 89(6), 1661-1674.
- . Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271(1538), 471-475.
- . Journal of Theoretical Biology, 227(1), 13-23.
- . Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271(1537), 425-434.
- . Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1526), 1829-1838.
- . Molecular Biology of the Cell, 9(7), 1757-1771.
- . Oikos.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology.
- . Bioacoustics, 1-21.
- . Nature.
- . Journal of Applied Ecology.
- . Population Ecology.
- . mSystems.
- . Current Biology.
- . Journal of Ecology.
- . Nature Ecology & Evolution.
- . Parasitology, 1-36.
- . Ecology.
- . Journal of Animal Ecology.
- . Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
- .
- . Nature Sustainability.
Chapters
- , Demographic Methods across the Tree of Life (pp. 181-196). Oxford University Press
- , Wildlife Disease Ecology (pp. 91-128). Cambridge University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 79-92). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 93-130). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 203-218). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 219-222). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 131-166). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 167-202). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 35-56). Oxford University Press
- , Getting Started with R (pp. 57-78). Oxford University Press
- Getting Started with R An Introduction for Biologists Second Edition Preface, GETTING STARTED WITH R: AN INTRODUCTION FOR BIOLOGISTS, 2ND EDITION (pp. IX-XVIII).
- , GETTING STARTED WITH R: AN INTRODUCTION FOR BIOLOGISTS, 2ND EDITION (pp. 1-34).
Preprints
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Authorea, Inc..
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Authorea, Inc..
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Authorea, Inc..
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Center for Open Science.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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- Research group
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PhD students
- Simran Aujla
- Ross Booton
- Robert Goodsell (with Professor R Freckleton)
- Erika Hansson (with Dr AP Beckerman)
- Bethan Hindle (with Dr AP Beckerman)
- John Jackson (with Dr V Lummaa)
- James Lambert (with Professor R Freckleton)
- Simon Rolph (with Professor R Freckleton and Dr R Salguero-Gomez)
Postdoctoral Researchers
- Alison Parton
- Dr Shaun Coutts
- Teaching activities
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My approach to teaching and supervision of students is to convey my enthusiasm for population biology and evolutionary ecology, and to use research-led, biologically interesting examples to give students a thorough grounding in key concepts. I strongly believe that learning the basic tools for independent research is essential for undergraduate students, and I always encourage my students to try new methods of data analysis and quantitative reasoning. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, having completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching.
I have led the devlopment of the new data science strand of our curriculum. At level 1, I co-ordinate the introduction to exploratory data analysis component of APS135 (Skills for Biologists 1). In this course we introduce students to the R programming language, a cutting edge data visualisation and statistical analysis environment. We build on this knowledge in APS240 (Data Analysis), using R to explore the principles of environmental design and analysis of biological data. I also contribute to APS342 (Evolutionary Ecology).
My part of the course focuses on the evolution of host-parasite interactions and the mechanisms of life history evolution in stochastic environments. At the postgraduate level, I co-teach our Advanced Biological Analysis module (APS405), a week long intensive training module for MBiolSci, MRes and PhD students. This module introduces advanced statistical tools and a workflow for presenting the results of research. I also supervise level 3 (APS330) and masters (APS406 and our MRes) Projects. These projects reflect my broad interests in how ecological processes shape natural selection and population dynamics. Students interested in these research areas are welcome to contact me to discuss project ideas.