Elizabeth Nicholls

I have a background in animal behaviour and cognition and obtained my PhD from the University of Exeter in 2012. I am interested in the nutritional ecology of bees, and how floral rewards, particularly pollen, shape social and solitary bee behaviour and the implications for plant-pollinator interactions. I have held post-doctoral positions at the University of Exeter (2012-13) and Rothamsted Research (2013-14), and visiting researcher positions at Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg in Germany (2013) and The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India (2012). I joined the University of Sussex in 2014 as a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Dave Goulson, and founded my own research group in October 2020 under a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

I am passionate about communicating my research to the public and widening participation in science. I am a member of the School of Life Sciences EDI committee, and lead organiser of Soapbox Science Brighton, an annual event which aims to highlight female researchers in STEMM fields in the South East. I regularly contribute to science outreach events, such as Brighton Science Festival, and give talks to local schools and interest groups.