Albert B Phillimore
Curriculum Vitae
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT
Email: albert.phillimore@ed.ac.uk
Webpage: http://phillimore.bio.ed.ac.uk/
Tel : +44(0)131 6505413
POSITIONS HELD AND ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
2012 –
2010 – 2011
2007 – 2010
2007 – 2007
2006 – 2006
2002 – 2006
1998 – 2001
NERC Advanced Fellowship, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Edinburgh University
Junior Research Fellowship, Division of Biology, Imperial College London
PDRA NERC Centre for Population Biology
PDRA University of Chicago, PI: Prof. Trevor Price.
NERC funded PDRA, Imperial College London, PI: Prof. Ian Owens.
PhD on “The Ecological Basis of Speciation and Divergence in Birds”. Imperial College. Supervisor:
Prof Ian P.F. Owens. Funded by NERC.
Zoology, BSc Hons, University of Glasgow.
FUNDING
2011
2010
£665,585
£1000
2010
2010
€200,549
2008
2008
£1250
£2750
2003
£2000
NERC advanced fellowship (NE/I020598/1).
Centre for Ecology and Evolution symposium grant to coordinate a symposium on “How do
ecological processes affect macroevolutionary patterns?” Held March 2011.
“BIRDISLAND” Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship awarded to Luis Valente (co-PI)
ESF Frontiers in Speciation Research to host a visit from Dr Rampal Etienne (Groningen
University).
Royal Society Conference Grant to attend American Ornithologists Union conference.
Centre for Ecology and Evolution small grant addressing “the geography of speciation in
Heliconius butterflies” (joint with Prof. James Mallet and Ms Blanca Huertas).
London Universities Central Research Fund for fieldwork in Vanuatu.
AWARDS
2012
2001
Margary lecture, Royal Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, London Wetlands Centre
Graham Kerr Memorial Prize for undergraduate studies, Glasgow University.
TEACHING
Edinburgh

Course co-organiser “Climate change and evolution” 4th year Honours course (Autumn 2012 onwards, 4
lectures plus 8 contact hours).

Lecturing on animal evolution (Autumn 2012 onwards, 2 lectures on macroevolution).

Lecturing on evolutionary ecology of life history (2 lectures) 2011.
Imperial

Lecturing on Ecology, Evolution and Conservation MSc (4 lectures and two afternoon sessions covering
population genetics and quantitative genetics). 2009-2011.

Lecturing 3rd year undergraduate macroevolution course (3 lectures and an R practical on the topic of adaptive
radiation). 2010-2011

Lecturing 2nd year undergraduate ecology course (2 lectures on macroecology). 2008-2011.
External

Invited lecturer for Marie Curie initial training network focused on “Integrating ecology and evolution in diversity
research”, held at Konnevesi Research Station, Finland (31 May - 02 June 2010).
STUDENT SUPERVISION
PhD
2012 – Christine Tansey, “The effects of plasticity, local adaptation and interspecific interactions on fitness in a
changing environment”. Primary supervisor. Co-supervisors are Prof. Graham Stone & Dr Jarrod Hadfield.
2012 – Caroline Thomson, Second supervisor. Co-supervised with Dr Jarrod Hadfield.
1
2012
MSc
2011
2011
2010
2010
2009
2008
2008
Neil Rosser. “Ecology and evolution of Neotropical butterflies”. Second supervisor. Co-supervised with
Prof. James Mallet.
Konstantinos Proios: Plasticity versus microevolution: unravelling long-term phenological responses to climate
change in British populations of Quercus robur.
Stuart Young: Investigating the age of island populations using the Macarthur Wilson model of island
biogeography
Naiara O’Mahony: “Investigating the contribution of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity to geographic
variation in the phenology of flowering plants across Britain”.
Sandra Stålhandske: “Dissecting contribution of local adaptation and plasticity to the phenology of a
butterfly and its two host plants”.
Diane Lawrence: “Investigating the effect of coevolution on community productivity”. Co-supervised
with Prof. Tim Barraclough.
Feng Xiao: “Ecogeographic variation in wing length and mass of great tits (Parus major) and blue tits
(Parus caeruleus)”. Co-supervised with Dr Owen Jones.
Silwood supervisor to Henry Brown (2008), Jonathan Dunn, Sozos Michaelides and Alistair Senior (all 2009),
Nicholas Crouch, Samantha Farrell and Jonathan Kennedy (all 2010).
Undergraduate year placement
2008/09 Frances Medaney: “To what extent does phylogeny predict patterns of antibiotic resistance and genetic
exchange in soil bacteria?” Co-supervised with Dr Richard Ellis.
External Student Advisor
2012 - Jonathan Rolland, CNRS, Paris.
POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY
2012
2011
2008/09
2007/08
International Biogeography Society subcommittee for MacArthur and Wilson Award.
External examiner for MPhil student viva (University of Cambridge).
Co-organiser of Silwood Park Ecology and Evolution reading group.
Co-organiser of Silwood Park Ecology and Evolution seminar series.
PRESENTATIONS
Invited conference/symposium talks
2012
Margary Lecture, Royal Meteorological Society Meeting. London Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre.
2012
KEYNOTE: 6th Annual Meeting of the Specialist Group for Macroecology. Frankfurt.
2011
International Biogeography Society. Heraklion, Crete
2010
Imperial JRF conference.
2009
Society for the Study of Systematics Annual Symposium at the 2009 Evolution Meeting, Moscow, Idaho.
2008
American Ornithologist's Union, Portland, Oregon.
2007
British Ecological Society Annual Symposium on “Ecology and Speciation”, Sheffield University.
2006
CEE workshop on Evolution and Ecology on Islands. Held at ZSL.
Contributed conference presentations
2012
British Ecological Society, Birmingham.
2010
British Ecological Society, Leeds.
2009
Centre for Ecology and Evolution, London.
2008
Speciation Symposium,
Natural History Museum.
2007
Evolution, Stony Brook, USA.
2005
Edward Grey Institute Student Conference, Oxford, UK.
Invited seminars
2013
Reading University
2013
Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London
2013
Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen
2013
University of Groningen
2013
Ecology seminar series, University of Durham
2012
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh
2012
Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University
2012
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh
2012
Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford
2011
Institute of Zoology, London
2011
Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
2011
Evolution, ecology, environment and behaviour seminar series, University of Sussex
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2011
2010
2010
2010
2009
2008
2007
2007
2006
2005
2005
School of Biological Sciences, Bristol University
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow.
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh
NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield University.
The Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London
Evolutionary Morphology Seminar Series, University of Chicago
Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford
Sheffield Molecular Genetics Facility, Sheffield University
NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London
CONFERENCE/SYMPOSIUM ORGANISING
2012
2012
2011
BES Annual Meeting Coordinated session on “New directions in phenology at a macro scale”.
Edinburgh Phenology Meeting
Centre for Ecology and Evolution Spring Symposium on “Integrating ecology into macroevolutionary research”.
Co-organised with Lynsey McInnes and held at ZSL.
WORKSHOPS
2012
2012
2010
2008
2007
Climate change adaptation in forestry. Held at Charles Darwin House, London.
BES discussion of the 100 most important questions in ecology. Held at Charles Darwin House, London.
Ecosystem-level effects of climate change induced phenological shift. UKpopNet. Held at Durham University.
Co-organiser: Outstanding questions in speciation research. Held at Silwood Park.
Reconciling biogeography, phylogeny and community ecology. Held at Silwood Park.
PUBLICATIONS
Peer Reviewed Papers
Phillimore, A. B. Proios, K., O’Mahony, N., Bernard, R. Lord, A. M., Smithers, R. J. (2013) Inferring local processes from
macro-scale phenological patterns: a comparison of two methods. Journal of Ecology
Sutherland, W. J., Freckleton, R.P., Godfray, H.C.J., Beissinger, S.R., Benton, T., Cameron, D.D., Carmel, Y., Coomes,
D.A., Coulson, T., Emmerson, M.C., Hails, R.S., Hays, G.C., Hodgson, D. J., Hutchings, M. J., Johnson, D., Jones, J.
P.G., Keeling, M.J., Kokko, H., Kunin, W.E., Lambin, X., Lewis, O.T., Malhi, Y., Mieszkowska, N., Milner-Gulland,
E.J., Norris, K., Phillimore, A. B., Purves, D.W., Reid, J.M., Reuman, D.C., Thompson, K., Travis, J.M.J., Turnbull,
L.A., Wardle, D.A. and Wiegand, T. (2013). Identification of 100 fundamental ecological questions. Journal of Ecology
101: 58-67. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12025/abstract)
Phillimore, A. B., Stålhandske, S., Smithers, R. J., Bernard, R. (2012) Dissecting the contributions of plasticity and local
adaptation to the phenology of a butterfly and its host plants. American Naturalist 180: 655-670
(http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/667893)
Lawrence, D., Fiegna, F., Behrends, V., Bundy, J. G., Phillimore, A. B., Bell, T. Barraclough, T. G. (2012) Species
interactions alter species responses to a novel environment. PLoS Biology 10: e1001330
(http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001330). Faculty of 1000 Must Read
Rosser, N., Phillimore, A. B., Huertas, B., Willmott, K. R & Mallet, J. (2012) Testing historical explanations for gradients
in heliconiine butterflies of tropical America. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 105: 479-497.
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01814.x/pdf)
Etienne, R., Haegeman, B., Stadler, T., Aze, T., Pearson, P.N., Purvis, A., Phillimore, A.B. (2012) Diversity-dependence
brings molecular phylogenies closer to agreement with the fossil record. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
Series B – Biological Sciences 279: 1300-1309
(http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/279/1732/1300.full.pdf+html)
Bunnefeld, N. & Phillimore, A. B. (2012) Island, archipelago and taxon effects: mixed models as a means of dealing
with the imperfect design of nature’s experiments. Ecography 35: 15-22
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2011.07078.x/full)
McInnes, L. (& 10 authors) & Phillimore, A. B. (2011) MEETING REPORT: Integrating ecology in macroevolutionary
research. Biol. Letts. (http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/04/28/rsbl.2011.0358.full.pdf+html)
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Rosindell, J. & Phillimore, A.B. (2011) A unified model for island biogeography sheds light on the zone of radiation.
Ecology Letters 14: 552-560 (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01617.x/pdf)
Meiri, S., Raia, P., & Phillimore, A.B. (2011) Slaying dragons: limited evidence for unusual body size evolution on
islands. Journal of Biogeography 38: 89-100. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.13652699.2010.02390.x/full)
Phillimore, A.B.*, Hadfield, J.D.*, Jones, O.R., Smithers, R.J. (2010) Differences in spawning date between populations
of common frog reveal local adaptation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 107: 8292-8297.
(http://www.pnas.org/content/107/18/8292.full) *equal contribution. Faculty of 1000 Must Read
Pigot, A.L., Phillimore, A.B., Owens, I.P.F., Orme, C.D.L. (2010) The shape and temporal dynamics of phylogenetic
trees arising from geographic speciation. Systematic Biology 59: 660-673.
(http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/6/660.full.pdf+html)
Clegg, S.M., & Phillimore, A.B. (2010) The influence of migration and drift on genetic and phenotypic divergence in two
species of Zosterops in Vanuatu. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 365: 1077-1092.
(http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/365/1543/1077.abstract)
Ishtiaq, F., Clegg, S.M., Phillimore, A.B., Black, R.A., Owens, I.P.F & Sheldon, B.C. (2010) Biogeographical patterns of
blood parasite species diversity in avian hosts from southern Melanesian Islands. Journal of Biogeography 37: 120132. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02189.x/abstract)
Thomas, G.H., Meiri, S. & Phillimore, A.B. (2009) Body size diversification in Anolis: novel environment and island
effects. Evolution 63: 2017-2030. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00694.x/abstract)
Dawideit, B., Phillimore, A.B., Laube, I. Leisler, B. & Bohning-Gaese, K. (2009) Ecomorphological predictors of natal
dispersal distances in British birds. Journal of Animal Ecology 78: 388-395.
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01504.x/abstract)
Phillimore, A.B. & Price, T.D. (2008) Density dependent cladogenesis in birds. PLoS Biology 6, e71.
(http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060071) Faculty of 1000 Recommended
Phillimore, A.B., Orme, C.D.L., Thomas, G.H., Blackburn, T.M., Bennett, P.M., Gaston, K.J. & Owens, I.P.F (2008).
Sympatric speciation in birds is rare: insights from range data and simulations American Naturalist 171: 646-657.
(http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/587074)
Phillimore, A.B., Owens, I.P.F., Black, R., Chittock, J., Burke T.A., & Clegg, S.M. (2008). Complex patterns of genetic
and phenotypic divergence in an island bird and the consequences for delimiting conservation units. Molecular
Ecology 17: 2839-2853. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03794.x/pdf)
Ishtiaq, F., Guillaumot, L., Clegg, S.M., Phillimore, A.B., Black, R.A., Owens, I.P.F., Mundy, N.I. & Sheldon, B.C. (2008)
Avian haematozoan parasites and their associations with mosquitoes across Southwest Pacific Islands. Molecular
Ecology 17: 4545-4555. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03935.x/abstract)
Freckleton, R. P., Phillimore, A.B. & Pagel, M. (2008). Relating traits to diversification: a simple test. American
Naturalist 172: 102-115. (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/588076)
Phillimore, A.B., Orme, C.D.L., Davies, R.G., Hadfield, J.D., Reed, W. J., Gaston, K.J., Freckleton, R.P., & Owens,
I.P.F. (2007). Biogeographical basis of recent phenotypic divergence among birds: A global study of subspecies
richness. Evolution 61: 942-957. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00068.x/abstract)
Price, T.D. & Phillimore, A.B. (2007). Reduced major axis regression and the island rule. Journal of Biogeography 34:
1998-1999. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01796.x/pdf)
Phillimore, A.B., Freckleton, R.P., Orme, C.D.L. & Owens, I.P.F. (2006) Ecology predicts large-scale patterns of
phylogenetic diversification in birds. American Naturalist 168: 220-229.
(http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/505763)
Phillimore, A.B. & Owens, I.P.F. (2006) Are subspecies useful in evolutionary and conservation biology? Proceedings
of the Royal Society of London Series B – Biological Sciences 273: 1049-1053.
(http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/273/1590/1049.full) Faculty of 1000 Recommended
Hadfield, J.D., Burgess, M.D., Lord, M.A., Phillimore, A.B., Clegg, S.M. & Owens, I.P.F. (2006) Direct versus indirect
sexual selection: genetic basis of colour size and recruitment in a wild bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London Series B – Biological Sciences 273: 1347-1353.
(http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/273/1592/1347.short)
Book Chapters
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Phillimore, A.B. (2011) Geography, range evolution and speciation in “The Princeton Guide to Evolution”. Eds. Losos
,
J., Baum
, D., Futuyma
, D.J., Hoekstra
, H., Lenski
. R., Moore
, A., Schluter
, D., Whitlock
, M. Princeton
University Press.
Phillimore, A.B. (2010) Subspecies origination and extinction in birds. Ornithological Monographs 67: 42-53.
(http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/om.2010.67.1.42?journalCode=om)
Price, T.D., Phillimore, A.B., Awodey, M., & Hudson, R. (2010). Nonecological and ecological causes of the evolution of
sexually selected traits on islands. in In Search of the Causes of Evolution. Eds. Grant P. R & Grant, B. R. Princeton
University Press.
Phillimore, A.B. & Price, T.D. (2009). Ecological influences on the temporal pattern of speciation. In Speciation and
Patterns of Diversity. Eds Butlin, R. K., Bridle, J. & Schluter, D. Cambridge University Press. Pp 240-256.
SERVICE AS EDITOR AND REFEREE
Associate Editor: Journal of Biogeography 2012 – present.
Editor: 2009 Invited guest editor on a PNAS paper.
Referee on over 100 articles since 2005 (not including re-reviews) for American Naturalist, Animal Behaviour, The Auk,
Behavioural Ecology, The Biologist, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Biology Letters, BMC Evolutionary
Biology, Ecography, Ecology letters, Evolution, Functional Ecology, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Ibis, Journal of
Animal Ecology, Journal of Avian Biology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Biogeography, Methods in Ecology
and Evolution, Molecular Ecology, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Nature, Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society, PLoS Biology, PLoS One, PNAS, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Science, Systematic Biology and
Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
Named as a top referee based on number and quality of reviews by Proceedings of the Royal Society B in 2008, 2009
and 2011.
Grants: NERC (UK), National Science Foundation (USA), NSERC (Canada) and National Geographic.
MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES
American Society of Naturalists, British Ecological Society, International Biogeography Society
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