Main Research Interests
Behavioural Ecology    Sexual Selection    Sperm Competition     Mate Choice      

Background
I grew up in South Africa where I completed my MSc studying sperm competition in the foam-nesting frog Chiromantis xerampelina. One highlight was designing a frog condom (yes, a plastic bag works). I was then fortunate enough to receive funding to study in England. I intended to work on cooperative breeding in meerkats, but ended up studying sexual selection in a range of animals and plants for my DPhil (painted reed frogs, fiddler crabs, damselflies, zebra finches and desert and fynbos flowers) under the wonderful supervision of Marion Petrie. This gave me a wide range of experience, but no technical or taxonomic specialty. In early 1996, Patricia Backwell and I headed off to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. While applying for post-docs I learned the pleasures of sundowners, how to fall off a motorbike, travelled to Barbados and Trinidad, and discovered the virtue of wearing boxers rather than briefs when living in the tropics. In 1997 I was awarded a three-year S.T.R.I. Fellowship. I continued my tradition of working on new taxa. This time I worked on parental care and mate desertion in cichlid fish (Aequidens coeruleopunctatus); and population variation in life history traits in a small live-bearing fish (Brachyrhaphis episcopi). Like guppies, populations of this small fish occur above and below waterfalls that act as barriers to upstream movement of larger predatory fish.

I arrived in Australia in 2001. Since then I have devoted myself to setting up a lab to work on field crickets (Teleogryllus commodus) and going grey (there is a causal link). Future plans include living a balanced life (currently postponed due to work commitments) and trying to co-author a book with two friends.

Research Interests
I am a behavioural ecologist interested in sexual selection and reproductive decisions (female choice, male-male competition, sperm competition, parental care and life histories). I try to test predictions from general evolutionary theory that can be widely applied across species: Do females prefer symmetrical males? Is the elaboration of sexual signals constrained by predation or by trade-offs with investment in other fitness-enhancing traits? While I acknowledge that it is important to investigate proximate mechanisms (particularly the physiological mechanisms associated with signalling), my own outlook will always be biased towards the effects of different strategies of investment in traits or behaviours on evolutionary fitness. I tend to ask a question and then pick a study animal that can be used to answer it. I have no taxonomic prejudice, but I do think it is important to feel some affinity with your study animal. You have to think it's cool. I am respectful of the incredible expertise many colleagues possess concerning the biology of specific taxa. Their expertise is almost always essential if a project is to succeed.

Practically speaking, my research usually involves detailed observation of animal behaviour in the field or under semi-natural conditions. Most of my work is experimental because of the need to determine causality, but I also try to collect data on phenotypic correlations between traits of interest. Together these data provide a fuller picture. For example, an experiment may show that courting is a costly act, but one would still like to know whether males that court more live longer. I think both pieces of information are essential. The touted superiority of experimental approaches in behavioural ecology depends on the credibility of the manipulation. In my view, many experiments do not demonstrate what they purport to show if the animal's perception of the manipulation disagrees with the way in which the experimenter describes it. For example, many manipulations of 'confidence of paternity' or 'perceived sex ratio' are potentially flawed.

I have a long standing interest in meta-analysis. Meta-analytic techniques attempt to quantitatively review a field of study using custom-designed statistics. The alternative approach is the traditional narrative review. The later is clearly fraught with problems of prejudice and failure to consider fundamental factors such as the effect of sample size on the likelihood of detecting a relationship. Meta-analysis is still controversial in ecology and evolution, but it is gaining supporters. It is now a well-established practice (indeed sometimes a legal requirement) in many areas of medicine and the social sciences. Conducting a meta-analysis is a great way to gain a feel for what is really know about a topic, as well as raising issues about how scientists go about their business (check out Palmer 2000, Ann Rev Ecol Syst 31:441-480).

Possible Projects
I am keen to supervise projects investigating reproductive behaviour in either field or laboratory studies. For practical reasons, I am mainly interested in projects studying invertebrates, fish or frogs. I am also eager to collaborate with graduate students interested in conducting meta-analyses. The basic statistical techniques are easily acquired (I promise). The hardest work is the commitment to spend time in the library tracking down references and extracting the necessary data. For these meta-analyses, I am interested in almost any worthwhile question in ecology or evolutionary biology.

Current Research Group

• Jean Drayton (PhD candidate, 2006 onward)
• Fred Hayes (Honours candidate, 2007-2008)
• Richard Milner (Honours candidate, 2007-2008) (co-supervised with P Backwell)
• Kate Humphrey (Honours candidate, 2007-2008) (co-supervised with C Fulton)
• James Davies (Research Assistance)
• Dr Clint Kelly (NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, 2005-2007) (Assistant Professor at Iowa State University from September 2007 onward)

Former Honours Students

• Michelle Shackleton (First Class Pass) now working in Beijing.
• Jean Drayton (First Cass Pass) now doing PhD at ANU.
• Leah Bala (First Class Pass), currently working in Japan.

Former Graduate Students

• Dr Bob Wong (PhD Student, co-supervised with Dr Scott Keogh, 2003). Recently appointed as a lecturer at Monash University.
• Michelle Shackleton (M.Phil). Awarded in 2007.
• Kobus Boeke (MSc student, based at Groningen, Netherlands). Completed project in 2007.

Recent Funding

• ARC Discovery & 50% QEII Fellowship (Jennions): Does size really matter? Selection, constraints and allometry ($680,000)
• ARC Discovery (Backwell, Jennions): Changes in the intensity of sexual selection with density and age ($263,000)
• ARC Discovery Grant (Jennions): What is the genetic relationship between attractiveness, fighting ability and fertilization success in field crickets? (2005-2006)
• ARC Discovery Grant (Hunt, Brooks & Jennions): Putting sexual selection in a life-history context; what is meant by "genetic quality"? (2002-2004) 
• ARC Large Grant (Jennions): Lovers and Fighters: Does opposing sexual selection maintain variation in sexual traits in rainbowfish? (Study animal changed to the field cricket Teleogryllus commodus) (2001-2003) 

Teaching

I currently lecture in:

Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology (BIOL3131)

I have also contributed towards:

Field Studies in Behavioural Ecology (BIOL3132)
Ecological Research (BIOL3136)
Marine Biology (BIOL2112)
Animal Evolution and Ecology (BIOL1005)

Publications in 2006, 2007 and 2008 Click for Full List and PDFs
Reaney, L.T., Sims, R.A., Sims, S.W.M., Jennions, M.D., Backwell, P.R.Y. 2008. Experiments with robots explain synchronized courtship in fiddler crabs. Current Biology 18(2): R62-R63.

Backwell, P.R.Y., Matsumasa, M., Double, M., Roberts, A., Murai, M., Keogh, J.S., Jennions, M.D. 2007. What are the consequences of being left-clawed in a predominantly right-clawed fiddler crab? Proceedings of the Royal Society 274: 2723-2729.

Hunt, J., Blows, M.W., Zajitschek, F., Jennions, M.D., Brooks, R. 2007. Reconciling Strong Stabilizing Selection with the Maintenance of Genetic Variation in a Natural Population of Black Field Crickets (Teleogryllus commodus). Genetics 177: 875-880.

Jennions MD, Drayton J, Brooks RC, Hunt J. 2007. Do female black field crickets Teleogryllus commodus benefit from polyandry? Journal of Evolutionary Biology (in press)

Kokko H, Jennions MD, Houde AE. 2007. Evolution of frequency-dependent mate choice: keeping up with fashion trends. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B 274: 1317-1324

Drayton J, Hunt J, Brooks RC, Jennions MD. Sounds different: inbreeding depression in sexually selected traits in the cricket Teleogryllus commodus.  Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20: 1138-1147

Zajitschek F, Hunt J, Zajitschek S, Jennions MD, Brooks R. 2007. No intra-locus sexual conflict over reproductive fitness or ageing in field crickets. PlosOne 2: e155. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000155

Fisher DO, Double MC, Blomberg SP, Jennions MD, Cockburn A. 2006. Post-mating sexual selection increases lifetime fitness of polyandrous females in the wild. Nature 444: 89-92

Jennions MD, Wong BMB, Cowling A., Donnelly C. 2006. Life history phenotypes in a live-bearing fish Brachyrhaphis episcopi   living under different predator regimes: seasonal effects? Environmental Biology of Fish 76: 211-219

Pandolfi JM et al. 2006. Mass mortality following disturbance in Holocene coral reefs from Papua New Guinea. Geology 34: 949-952

Hunt J, Jennions MD, Spyrou N, Brooks R. 2006. Artificial selection on male longevity influences age-dependent reproductive effort in the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus. American Naturalist 168: E72-E86

Kokko H, Jennions MD, Brooks R. 2006. Unifying and testing models of sexual selection. Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 37: 43-66

Bussière LF, Hunt J, Jennions MD, Brooks R.   2006. Sexual conflict and cryptic female choice in the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus. Evolution 60: 792-800

Backwell PRY, Jennions MD, Wada K, Murai M, Christy J. 2006. Synchronous waving in two species of fiddler crabs. Acta Ethologica 9: 22-25.

Kelly CD, Jennions MD 2006. The h -index and career assessment by numbers. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 167-170.

Bentsen, CL, Hunt J, Jennions MD, Brooks R. 2006. Complex multivariate sexual selection on male acoustic signalling in a wild population of Teleogryllus commodus. American Naturalist 167: E102-E116

Ten Selected Publications
Jennions MD, Petrie M. 2000. Why do females mate multiply? A review of the genetic benefits. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 75:21-64

Jennions MD, Hunt J, Graham R, Brooks RC. 2004. No evidence for inbreeding avoidance through post-copulatory mechanisms in the black field cricket Teleogryllus commodus. Evolution 58:2472-2477

Hunt J, Brooks RC, Jennions MD, Smith MJ, Bentsen CL, Bussière LF. 2004. High-quality male crickets invest heavily in sexual display but die young. Nature 432:1024-1027.

Backwell PRY, Jennions MD. 2004. Coalition among male fiddler crabs. Nature 430: 417

Backwell PRY, Jennions MD. Passmore NI, Christy JH. 1998. Synchronized courtship in fiddler crabs. Nature 391:31-32

Fisher DO, Double MC, Blomberg SP, Jennions MD, Cockburn C. 2006. Post-mating sexual selection increases lifetime fitness of polyandrous females in the wild. Nature 444: 89-92

Jennions MD, Petrie, M. 1997. Variation in mate choice and mating preferences: a review of causes and consequences. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 72:283-327

Jennions MD, Møller AP, Petrie M. 2001. Sexually selected traits and adult survival: a meta-analysis. Quarterly Review of Biology 76:3-36

Jennions MD, Backwell PRY. 1996. Residency and size affect fight duration and outcome in the fiddler crab, Uca annulipes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 57:293-306

Jennions MD, Polakow D. 2001. The effect of partial brood loss on male desertion in a cichlid fish: an experimental test. Behavioural Ecology 12: 84-92