I obtained my PhD in Psychology and Biological Sciences in 2017 at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, University of Western Australia (UWA), under the supervision of Prof. Gillian Rhodes and Prof. Leigh W. Simmons. I completed two postdoctoral fellowships, one with Prof. Rhodes and the other with Prof. Shinichi Nakagawa at University of New South Wales (UNSW).

My research crosses the boundaries of evolutionary biology and psychology to study person perception. In particular, I study the physical traits that lead us to perceive some individuals as more attractive, trustworthy, and dominant, whether such perceptions are accurate, and the biological basis for such perceptions (e.g. are attractive physical features signals of good health and diet). More broadly, I study trade-offs between different life-history traits, including attractiveness, competitiveness, fertility, and health, using both human and cross-species comparative datasets. I rely on a number of paradigms, including large-scale cohort studies, laboratory facial perception experiments, experimental diet studies, and meta-analysis.

Research areas

Human sexual selection

Person perception

Life-history trade-offs

Behavioural Ecology

Ecological Immunology

Sperm Competition