Research

I am broadly interested in studying eco-evolutionary dynamics (how ecological and evolutionary processes feedback upon each other on an ecological timescale) in wild populations.

Evolutionary Stasis In animal and plant breeding, quantitative genetics has been fantastically successful in predicting the evolutionary change in phenotypes based on selection and inheritance. This approach has the potential to help understand key processes in wild populations, including how populations will respond to rapid environmental change. In the wild, many phenotypes have been shown to be under strong selection and have a genetic basis. Quantitative genetic theory predicts that such phenotypes should rapidly evolve, but typically we do not see this - a phenomenon known as the paradox of stasis. I am interested in exploring why we don’t see the trait evolution we expect. In particular, I have focussed on how social interactions can affect selection and inheritance themselves, as well how we estimates them. Most of my work focusses on juvenile body size, a key predictor of juvenile survival in many systems.

• Pick et al. 2022 Nature Ecology and Evolution

• Pick et al. 2019 Evolution Letters

Parental Care In many taxa, parents provide a huge amount of resources to their offspring, prenatally through eggs and seeds and postnatally through provisioning their offspring. Parental care has the potential to buffer offspring from environmental unpredictability, to alter evolutionary trajectories and drive population dynamics. However, the importance of parental care (and social interactions more generally) for understanding population dynamics and stability, has seldom been investigated. My previous research has looked at the causes and consequences of variation in maternal care in birds, and I now study how parental effects can impact population dynamics.

• Pick et al. 2016 American Naturalist

• Pick et al. 2016 Frontiers in Zoology

• Gauzere et al. 2021 Ecology Letters

Statistical Methodology My work often involves developing new statistical methods, as well as assessing whether existing methods do what we want them to. I am also committed to statistics education, and working towards a better general understanding of statistics in ecology and evolution. Most of my work focussed on mixed effects or hierarchical models.

• Pick et al. 2023 Methods in Ecology and Evolution

• Pick et al. 2023 PeerJ

• Ihle et al. 2019 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Open Science Many academic fields are experiencing a reproducibility crisis. In ecology and evolution, we face major problems with replication, transparency, reproducibility and research waste. I have been involved in several projects assessing and promoting open science practice. I am currently the chair of SORTEE advocacy committee, and teach workshops about better study design practice.

• Pick et al. 2019 Methods in Ecology and Evolution

• Ivimey-Cook et al. 2023 Research Synthesis Methods

• Ivimey-Cook et al. 2023 Journal of Evolutionary Biology

• Nakagawa et al. 2023 Nature Communications