Hi everyone!
After being a visiting post-doc for nine years, and subsequently teaching and working on several projects at Lund University, I am by now familiar to most people in this department! However, I’m starting a full-time contract as a researcher, and so let me present myself here again.
I’m Júlio Manuel Malha Simões Neto, a researcher originally from Portugal, but with a DPhil awarded by Oxford University back in 2004. I have a broad interest in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology, and work mostly on natural populations of marshland passerines. My main current projects focus on local adaptation and speciation in Reed Buntings, and on the migration and conservation of Aquatic Warblers. I often use multidisciplinary approaches such as genetic, acoustic and stable isotope analyses, as well as intensive field work involving bird ringing, nest finding etc. Otherwise, I’m a member of the Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team, a subject editor of Journal of Avian Biology, and maintain a constant-effort ringing site in Krankesjön!
During the next 1.5 years, I will study the temporal and geographical variation of the relationship between malaria infections and the variation and expression of immunity (MHC) genes in natural populations of House Sparrows. This is part of the ERC-funded project given to Helena Westerdahl, which focuses on host-parasite co-evolution. Hence, I’ll be available for some more time to interact with you all, and undertake fruitful collaborations!
