The research group

Yorick Lambreghts

Yorick’s research focuses on the evolution of sociality in lizards with a particular interest in the role of kin recognition. He is developing a method to make modifications to the genome of Australian lizards using CRISPR-Cas9 in collaboration with Martin and Dr Oliver Griffith. This technique will open the door for a whole suite of new opportunities for research on social evolution and recognition, as well as virtually every other aspect of Australian reptile biology.

During his PhD, Yorick focussed on kin recognition itself, its importance in the early evolution of sociality and how it was refined as social systems became increasingly complex. While he was based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart (BEER group), his field and experimental work took place at Macquarie University in Sydney (Lizard Lab). He is currently working on publishing these findings.

Further information about Yorick and his research is available on his web page and Google Scholar.

Sergio Naretto

Sergio has a foot in two labs - his other job is echidna wrangler and researcher in Oliver Griffith’s lab. Sergio is on a grant with Martin to research UV-based display behaviour in blue-tongue skinks. Part of this work is synthesising a UV signal in collaboration with nanoparticles engineers at Macquarie. Sergio also has lots of data from his days studying Argentinian lizards at high altitude.

Further information about Sergio’s work is available on his ResearchGate page. Sergio also has a Google Scholar page.

Chien-Chen Huang

After completing his BA and MSc in Taiwan, Chien-Chen spent five years working at a zoo with people in its wildlife rescue center and animal welfare working group, before leaving everything behind to start his PhD in Australia. His research focuses on the cognitive abilities of goannas (varanids), exploring how cognition relates to ecological traits and spatial ecology, and how it varies across different evolutionary lineages.

Chien has written popular science articles in Chinese: his articles on Facebook →

Kathy Potter

The aim of Kathy's PhD is to uncover the evolution and function of flash signals in frogs and understand their role in potentially deterring predators. This is an extension of Kathy's Masters of research thesis. Kathy is also a gifted musician and long-term member of the Frog and Tadpole Study Group (FATS) of New South Wales.

Bethan Govier

Bethan has had a somewhat unconventional journey to starting her PhD but has always known it would centre around lizards! She completed her BSc (Hons) in animal behaviour and welfare in 2015 and went on to work as a reptile keeper at Jersey Zoo in the Channel Islands (UK). She then completed her Master’s in wildlife conservation with her thesis focused on behavioural variation in sand lizards that were destined for reintroduction across southern England. Following this, she spent a few feral years working as a warden on Round Island, an uninhabited nature reserve off the north coast of Mauritius before COVID brought her back to England, where she worked as an ice cream maker and a learning assistant in a children’s nursery… equally as wild!

She is now thrilled at the chance to utilise the skills she has learnt along the way to complete her PhD under the supervision of Martin Whiting and Geoff While. Her PhD began by focusing on how the early social environment influences subsequent social behaviour, personality and cognition. Later, it became more about the behavioural consequences of sex reversal in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).