I started my 4-year PhD project in October 2009. The aim of my project is to examine the effects of stressful environments on females’ reproductive quality and to investigate the heritability of egg traits. I will focus on the effect of maternal food stress on eggshell pigmentation and chick quality in Quails (Coturnix coturnix).

My supervisors at Birmingham are Phillip Cassey and Jim Reynolds, and I will collaborate with Karen Spencer from The University of Glasgow, where I will have access to a captive Quail population.

My research interests include behavioural ecology and physiology. I am especially interested in sexual selection and maternal investment mechanisms in birds. In 2007-2008, I completed a professional training year at the “Centre d’Etude biologique de Chize” (CNRS, France). I worked with a PhD student (Mathieu Giraudeau) on the maintenance and role of coloured sexual signals in mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). In particular, we investigated the role of carotenoid-based ornamentation on mate choice and maternal investment. In 2008-2009, I completed a Masters course in Ecology, Biodiversity and Evolution at the University of Toulouse (France), where I studied the relationship between egg coloration and female reproductive quality in mallard ducks.

I have also worked for four months for the European Conservation Program of Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax) in France. We bred, monitored and released the birds to reinforce the declining French population.