Natasha Gillies

Seabird behaviour and ecology

I'm a behavioural ecologist interested in movement, decision-making, and parental strategies in wild animals. I’m particularly interested in questions that sit at the intersection of behaviour, ecology, and evolution, and in how individual-level decisions scale up to influence the evolution of life histories and social systems.

Currently, I'm a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of Liverpool, where I study movement ecology in polar seabirds - including the wandering albatross, the black-browed albatross, and the black-legged kittiwake. I use high-resolution biologging to explore the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of movement, and their consequences at both individual and population levels.

My PhD research focused on the coordination of biparental care in long-lived seabirds, investigating the mechanisms that allow parents to negotiate care under challenging and uncertain conditions. This work sparked a broader interest in the evolution of parental care, which I’ll be exploring further from February 2026 through a research fellowship examining how ecological and evolutionary pressures shape cooperative strategies across species.