Kate Durrant

Dr. Kate Durrant is an Associate Professor of Behavioural Ecology in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham. With a career spanning over two decades, she has established herself as a leading researcher in sexual selection, sperm competition, and avian ecology. Her work bridges laboratory and field studies, focusing on non-model organisms including birds and insects to explore fundamental evolutionary questions.

Dr. Durrant earned her BSc and Honours (Masters) in Zoology from the University of Melbourne (1995-1999), followed by a PhD in Molecular Ecology from Griffith University, Australia (2000-2004). Her postdoctoral work included positions at the Smithsonian Institution (2005-2006) and the University of Sheffield (2007-2008), before joining the University of Nottingham in 2008.

Her research program centers on sexual selection, particularly examining how pre- and post-copulatory traits interact in evolutionary processes. She has conducted extensive fieldwork on European nightjars, studying their reproductive ecology and conservation needs, while also investigating sperm competition mechanisms in diverse taxa including giant hissing cockroaches. Her work combines behavioral observations, morphological analyses, and molecular techniques to address fundamental questions about reproductive strategies.

Dr. Durrant's publication record demonstrates consistent productivity across multiple research areas, with recent work focusing on the relationship between sexual dichromatism and sperm morphology in passerines, vocal monitoring of nightjars, and the effects of human disturbance on bird populations. Her research shows a clear pattern of integrating field and laboratory approaches to address questions at the intersection of behavior, evolution, and conservation.

Among her professional recognitions, Dr. Durrant received the Lord Dearing Award for excellence in teaching in 2018. She is actively involved in teaching across undergraduate levels, convening modules on evolution, ecology, animal behavior, and leading an international field course to Portugal.

• Lecturer in Behavioural Ecology, University of Nottingham (2008-present)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Sheffield (2007-2008)
• Lecturer in Animal Behaviour, University of Maryland (2006)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution (2005-2006)

Dr. Durrant supervises multiple PhD and MRes students and collaborates with researchers globally. Her fieldwork on European nightjars represents a long-term research commitment to understanding the behavioral ecology of this conservation-concern species, while her work on sperm competition spans multiple taxa and addresses fundamental questions about reproductive evolution.