Lori Lawson Handley

Dispersal and colonisation of new habitats are among the most important events in an organism’s life. I am interested in the evolutionary causes and consequences of dispersal – for example - how does geography influence dispersal, what makes certain species so successful at colonising new areas, and why is dispersal sex-biased in the majority of animal species?

I am also interested in the sex chromosomes – what factors drive their evolution and can how useful are sex-specific markers for understanding dispersal and population structure? Recent focus has been on global colonisation and local dispersal in humans and the harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) - two species that share more in common than you might think!