Dr Samuel Gascoigne

Biography

I am a population ecologist with broad interests in eco-evolutionary dynamics. Currently, I am particularly interested in (1) how populations respond to variable environments and (2) how population’s evolve to accommodate the impacts of changing environments. To address these topics, I have an interdisciplinary research program including the humble fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) for more proximate (mechanistic) questions and structured population models (i.e., matrix population models and integral projection models) for more ultimate (evolutionary) questions.

I received my undergraduate degrees in Biology and Neuroscience from Lake Forest College. At LFC, I gained a passion for research at the intersection of ecology and evolution by working with Dr. Alexander Shingleton on the physiological mechanisms behind plastic morphological traits in Drosophila melanogaster and Dr. Flavia Barbosa on the structure of life-history trait hierarchies and covariances in Callosobruchus maculatus. After my undergrad, I began a DPhil in Zoology at the University of Oxford advised by Dr. Roberto Salguero-Gómez and Dr. Irem Sepil where I researched the impacts of variable environments on population dynamics and life history evolution. In addition to my DPhil, I helped grow, curate and do outreach for the COMPADRE and COMADRE databases.

After my DPhil, I am excited to say I have started a research fellowship with Dr. Greta Bocedi at the University of Aberdeen, as well as research groups across Aarhus University and University of Helsinki, in the Novo Nordisk funded Centre for Ecological Genetics. Our work is focused on (1) quantifying the impact of genetic structure on extinction risk across arthropod species in Denmark and (2) building new theory linking life-history evolution, dispersal ecology and population genetics to better understand how and why populations do or don’t persist in a changing world.

External Memberships

British Ecological Society (since 2020)

Evolutionary Demography Society (since 2022)

SORTEE (since 2022)

Prizes and Awards

2023:

Finalist for the SORTEE Open Science Student Award, SORTEE 

Shortlisted for the Sidnie Manton Award, Journal of Animal Ecology

2019:

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence Foundation

Funding and Grants

In review:

Small Research Grant, Royal Society of Edinburgh (£5,000)

2025:

Travel Grant for the Annual Society of Population Ecology Conference, Ecological Society of Japan (£3,000)

2023:

Dean of Graduates Fund, Pembroke College, University of Oxford (£970)

2021:

Elizabeth Hannah Jenkinson Fund, University of Oxford (£2,000)

2019:

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence Foundation ($7,500)

2016:

Presidential Scholarship, Lake Forest College ($120,000)

Reid Music Scholarship, Lake Forest College ($8,000)