research

Reserch anchor

I am an evolutionary ecologist, with a particular research focus on the role of social interactions, particularly parental care, on an animal's ability to adapt to a rapidly changing world.

What makes some populations of animals more resilient to climate change than others?

How might an evolutionary history of social interactions confer resilience in the face of catastrophe?

What kinds of adaptations do we see in animals when they are faced with multiple combined environmental stressors?

Which adaptations can be plastically-induced in response to short-term environmental perturbations and which evolve over many generations of long-term stress?

Climate change, habitat degradation and excessive use of antibiotics and pesticides pose severe threats to natural populations, so an ability to predict how populations respond to environmental perturbations is becoming ever more important. Understanding how a population’s evolutionary history affects its future resilience could therefore play a vital role in mitigation strategies. I use a combination of rigorous field work, innovative laboratory experiments, experimental evolution, powerful molecular techniques, cutting-edge theory and advanced statistical analyses to investigate how adaptive social behaviour influences evolution, and how this will impact species in a changing world.

Publications

Bladon EK, Hakala SM, Kilner RM & LeBoeuf AC (submitted) Plasticity and evolution of metabolic division of labour within families. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.18.599519

Bladon EK, Christie AP, Smith RK, Sutherland WJ & Bladon AJ (2025) Butterfly and moth conservation: Results from a global synopsis of evidence. Journal of Insect Conservation, 29(19). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-024-00646-4

Bladon EK, Pascoal S & Kilner RM (2024) Can recent evolutionary history promote resilience to environmental change? Behavioral Ecology, 35(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae074

Thornton A, Morgan WH, Bladon EK, Smith RK, & Sutherland WJ (2024) Coral Conservation: Global evidence for the effects of actions. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. https://www.conservationevidence.com/synopsis/pdf/36

Bladon EK & Kilner RM (2024) Nest construction and its effect on post-hatching family life in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Animal Behaviour, 215: 11-22 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.06.018

Bladon AJ, Bladon EK, Smith RK & Sutherland WJ (2023) Butterfly and Moth Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for Butterflies and Moths. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. https://www.conservationevidence.com/synopsis/pdf/37

Bladon EK, Pascoal S, Bird N, Mashoodh R & Kilner RM (2023) The evolutionary demise of a social interaction: experimentally induced loss of traits involved in the supply and demand of care. Evolution Letters, 7(3), 168-175. https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrad016

Bladon EK, English S, Pascoal S & Kilner RM (2020) Early-life effects on body size in each sex interact to determine reproductive success in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 33(12):1725-1734. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13711

Bladon AJ, Lewis M, Bladon EK, Buckton SJ, Corbett S, Ewing SR, Hayes MP, Hitchcock GE, Knock R, Lucas C, McVeigh A, Menéndez R, Walker JM, Fayle TM & Turner EC (2020) How butterflies keep their cool: Physical and ecological traits influence thermoregulatory ability and population trends. Journal of Animal Ecology, 89: 2440-2450. https:/doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13319

zu Ermgassen EKHJ, Kelly M, Bladon EK, Salemdeeb R & Balmford A (2018) Support amongst UK pig farmers and agricultural stakeholders for the use of food losses in animal feed. PLoS ONE, 13(4): e0196288. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196288

CV highlights

Education and Selected Research

University of Cambridge | Postdoctoral Research Associate, Kilner Group | 2023- |

University of Cambridge | Postdoctoral Research Associate, Conservation Evidence Group | 2022-23 |

University of Cambridge | PhD in Evolutionary Biology (BBSRC funded) | 2018-22 |

University of Cambridge | MPhil in Behavioural Ecology/Evolutionary Biology | 2017-18 |

University of East Anglia | Graduate Diploma in Ecology | 2015-16 |

University of Cambridge | BA Classics | 2010-13 |

Selected Media and Outreach

Museum of Zoology, Cambridge | 2018- | Speaker and outreach volunteer

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire | 2021-2022 | Freelance Broadcast Journalist and Radio Presenter

Cam FM | 2020-2022 | Station Manager, radio presenter and host of "Us and STEMM" and "Lockdown Science" podcasts

Festival of Nature | Member of The Crew | 2021 | A "face of the festival" producing video and audio content

Pint of Science | Climate change and conservation after COVID-19 | 2021 | Panellist and roundtable moderator

Cambridge Festival | Battle of the Beasts | 2021 | Host

Awards

Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge | Janet Moore Prize for undergraduate supervising | 2021 |

Student Radio Association | (For Cam FM while I was Station Manager) Gold in the "Coronavirus Resilience Award" and Bronze in both the "Best Outreach Project" and the "Student Radio Moment of the Year" Amplify Awards | 2021

Wildscreen/Back from the Brink | Winner of the "People and Nature" film category | 2019 |

BBC Wildlife Magazine | Blogger of the Month | 2015 |

Association of Taxation Technicians | ATT 25att25 award | 2014 |

Association of Taxation Technicians | ATT Mid-Anglia Branch Prize | 2014 |

Magdalene College, Cambridge | Goulandris academic award | 2010-13 |