Dr James Gilbert

Dr James Gilbert

Lecturer in Zoology/ Deputy Programme Leader, Zoology

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • School of Natural Sciences

Summary

James completed his PhD on the evolution of insect parental care at Cambridge, and a Marie Curie Fellowship on social behaviour at the Universities of Sydney and Sussex, before joining Hull in 2015.

Recent outputs

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Journal Article

Solitary bee larvae prioritize carbohydrate over protein in parentally provided pollen

Austin, A. J., & Gilbert, J. D. (2021). Solitary bee larvae prioritize carbohydrate over protein in parentally provided pollen. Functional ecology, 35(5), 1069-1080. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13746

Sporopollenin as a dilution agent in artificial diets for solitary bees

Tainsh, F., Woodmansey, S. R., Austin, A. J., Bagnall, T. E., & Gilbert, J. D. (in press). Sporopollenin as a dilution agent in artificial diets for solitary bees. Apidologie, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-020-00801-1

Predation drives recurrent convergence of an interspecies mutualism

Feeney, W. E., Brooker, R. M., Johnston, L. N., Gilbert, J. D., Besson, M., Lecchini, D., …Manica, A. (2019). Predation drives recurrent convergence of an interspecies mutualism. Ecology letters, 22(2), 256-264. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13184

Skew in ovarian activation depends on domicile size in phyllode-glueing thrips

Gilbert, J. D., Wells, A., & Simpson, S. J. (2018). Skew in ovarian activation depends on domicile size in phyllode-glueing thrips. Scientific reports, 8(1), Article 3597. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21635-z

Everything is connected: network thinking in entomology

Evans, D. M., Gilbert, J. D., & Port, G. R. (2017). Everything is connected: network thinking in entomology. Ecological entomology, 42, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12449

Research interests

James is interested in the evolution of parental care and social behaviour – especially how these crucial animal interactions shape, and are shaped by, animals' nutritional environments – and the unforeseen pressures exerted upon parental and social interactions by anthropogenic change.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Resilience of pollinators in a changing world: impact of developmental environment on metabolism and energetic budgets in social and solitary bees

Funder

BBSRC Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Counc

Grant

£431,448.00

Started

1 January 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Do Bees regulate the composition of food they give their offspring, and does it matter?

Funder

Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Grant

£3,262.00

Started

1 February 2015

Status

Complete

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Evaluating biodiversity impacts of beaver reintroductions on invertebrate and vertebrate communities using environmental DNA

Funder

Natural England

Grant

£93,837.00

Started

1 January 2022

Status

Ongoing

Project

Investigating temporal impacts of reintroduced beavers at Cropton Forest on biodiversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding.

Funder

Forestry England

Grant

£5,500.00

Started

1 April 2022

Status

Ongoing

Project

The missing link: do impacts of beavers traverse aquatic-terrestrial boundaries?

Funder

Buglife

Grant

£5,000.00

Started

26 September 2021

Status

Complete

Postgraduate supervision

I am happy to supervise PhDs on a range of topics related to invertebrate behaviour and ecology. Currently I am supervising projects on nutritional ecology of solitary bees, and the macroevolution of insect parental care and life history, but am always open to creative, interesting suggestions. I do not currently have a funded position to offer, though, so we would have to work together to obtain funding.

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