Fionn Ó Marcaigh

Research Interests

I am interested in the evolutionary divergence of populations and the factors that isolate populations from each other. My PhD investigates these subjects using passerine birds from Indonesian islands as study species. This research touches on island biogeography, population genetics, phylogenetics, and evolutionary ecology.

I am also an experienced science communicator, having in the past worked in science outreach for organisations such as Science Gallery Dublin, Dublin Zoo, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and BirdWatch Ireland.

PhD

Funding: Irish Research Council, Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship

The extremely biodiverse region of Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been at the forefront of the study of biogeography since the days of Alfred Russell Wallace. This archipelago, populated as it is with fascinating endemic species, still has much to tell us about how new species evolve. Here, islands of different sizes and shapes, geological histories, and habitats, are home to an array of bird species with a complex history of dispersal and speciation.

I am working with a large library of feather samples, morphological data, and song recordings collected in the region since 1999, hoping to clarify the phylogenies of these birds and, from that, the connections between physical habitat, behaviour, isolation, and speciation.

Publications