Dr. Shichang Zhang of Hubei University discusses with us his team’s most recently accepted article, “Detritus decorations as the extended phenotype deflect avian predator attack in an orb-web spider”, his interest in the natural world, as well as his opinion on the best and worst parts about being an ecologist.

Dr. Anderson Feijó, a postdoctoral researcher at the Beijing’s Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discusses his article, “Divergent adaptations in resource-use traits explain how pikas thrive on the roof of the world”, his current research, as well as advice for fellow researchers.

In this insight, we discussed with Rony Izhar and Chen Gilboa the background behind their paper “Disentangling the steps of the infection process responsible for juvenile disease susceptibility”.

Dr. Rony Izhar is currently a research assistant in the School of Zoology in Tel Aviv University. She completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Frida Ben-Ami, studying the effects of host age on parasite evolution. She is interested in ecology, evolutionary biology and behavioral sciences.

Chen Gilboa currently works at a Global Contract Research Organization (CRO) as an Administrative Trial Assistant, focusing on drug development and management for oncological patients. Prior to this role, Chen served as a data and help desk support manager at a local CRO. Chen completed her MSc in the School of Zoology in Tel Aviv University, under the supervision of Dr. Frida Ben-Ami. Her thesis focused on the influence of host age on disease spread.

Dr. Rafał Zwolak, a professor in the Department of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, discusses his paper, “Animal personalities and seed dispersal: A conceptual review”, as well as his favorite research project and his opinions on the best and worst parts about being an ecologist.

Dr. Ana Salgado shares with us the background behind and synopsis of her paper “Narrow oviposition preference of an insect herbivore risks survival under conditions of severe drought”, as well as her experience in becoming an ecologist, her hobbies, and why this project has been her favorite so far during her academic career.

In our latest Insight, Kechang Niu of Nanjing University talks about the importance of individual variation in harsh environments, the background to his latest paper Harsh environmental regimes increase the functional significance of intraspecific variation in plant communities Nanjing University, and his unusual path into ecology.