Dr. Ben Sheldon

Biography

Ben Sheldon is the Luc Hoffmann Professor of Ornithology and Director of the Edward Grey Institute at the University of Oxford's Department of Biology. His primary research interests span evolution, ecology, and behavior, specifically focusing on understanding the causes and consequences of individual-level variation and its interaction with environmental change. His empirical work often leverages wild bird populations as models, drawing insights from long-term population studies such as those conducted on the great tit at Wytham Woods. Over the last decade, Sheldon's research has been supported by major funding from organizations including the European Research Council and UK Research and Innovation. He has supervised numerous PhD and postdoctoral projects, fostering a vibrant research group that typically includes postdocs, research assistants, and graduate students. His current research themes include spatial scaling of phenological co-adaptation among trees, insects, and birds, life-history evolution in variable environments, and the social ecology of wild bird populations. He advocates for integrating both field observations and experimental approaches in his work, employing quantitative and molecular genetic analyses to address pressing ecological questions.

Research Interests