Sociality, Heterogeneity, Organisation and Leadership (SHOAL)

Group Overview

SHOALgroup

(Sociality, Heterogeneity, Organisation And Leadership)

Department of Biosciences

SHOALgroup uses a question-oriented approach to address a range of issues in animal behaviour and ecology, and we have strong applied themes. An overarching aim of our research is to understand how costs and benefits shape individual behaviour, and how these behaviours relate to the structure and functioning of groups and populations. To achieve this, we conduct research on a variety of group-living animals (including humans) in the wild and in the lab and use novel technologies and analytical tools to access information about interactions at many spatiotemporal scales. You can learn more about our research, public engagement and media work on our website.

Associated Research Projects

iCWild-Swansea Baboon Project
Bio-herding
Collective behaviour

Affiliated Staff

Dr Andrew King
Dr Daniel Strömbom
Heather Barnett

Collaborative / Industry Partners

We work with researchers all over the world, some recent collaborators include:

Botswana Predator Conservation Trust
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town
Collective Behaviour Group, Matematiska Institutionen, Uppsala Universitet
Department of Computer Science, UCL, London
de Polavieja Lab, Cajal Institute, Madrid.
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London
Social & Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group (SENRG), University of Oxford
School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moore’s University
The Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, University of London
The Swarm Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
SENRGY, University of Bangor