Dr Thomas Ings
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow
- Room: 5.01f, Fogg Building
- Telephone: +44 (0)20 7882 7011
- Email: t.c.ings ("at" sign) qmul.ac.uk
Research interests:
Research website: http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/tcings/
My principle research interests include pollinator behaviour, predator-prey interactions and invertebrate community ecology and conservation. I am particularly keen to combine these interests and develop a better understanding of how the behaviour and traits of individuals and species’ determine interactions that define the structure and dynamics of complex ecological networks that ultimately provide essential ecosystem services, such as pollination.
The aim of my current Fellowship is to determine the mechanisms behind, and ecological consequences of, a major shift in the biology of a common pollinator, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, that appears to have recently switched from a univoltine to a bivoltine lifecycle, with a second generation now active during the winter. Other recent projects include an investigation into the dynamics of predator avoidance learning and an ecological comparison between imported and native subspecies of B. terrestris (to provide information necessary for an ecological risk assessment). During my research I have employed a variety of complementary approaches, including ecological methods (e.g. population surveys and field experiments), behavioural studies (e.g. laboratory experiments utilising 3D video tracking) and molecular techniques (e.g. sequencing). My current research will also incorporate physiology (e.g. diapause induction), population genetics (e.g. microsatellites) and I will utilise new behavioural techniques such as Radio-Frequency-Identification tags to automatically monitor bee foraging patterns.