Robert Hammond

Robert Hammond is a Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Leicester's Department of Genetics and Genome Biology. His research focuses on social evolution in insects, conservation genetics, and molecular phylogenetics. He holds a PhD from Oxford Brookes University and has conducted postdoctoral work at the Institute of Zoology, Saudi Arabia, and the University of Lausanne. His work includes studies on ant social behavior, gazelle conservation genetics, and reproductive dynamics in social insects.

Key areas of research include the phylogeny of ants (e.g., Leptothorax acervorum), genomic processes in haplodiploid organisms, and the evolution of sexual systems in ancient crustaceans like tadpole shrimp (Triops cancriformis). He collaborates widely, including with Dr Africa Gomez on Notostraca evolution. Hammond teaches and supervises PhD/MSc students at Leicester, emphasizing evolutionary questions linked to conservation and molecular genetics.

Publications span topics from ant social behavior genetics to plant mutation dynamics, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to evolution. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned, but his work contributes significantly to understanding social insect biology and evolutionary mechanisms.