Like humans, fish form cooperative, affiliative, and antagonistic relationships with each other, that shape their roles and connections within underwater communities. Some species, for example, run ‘cleaning stations,’ offering client fish a spa-like service by removing parasites, while others act as security guards, aggressively controlling access to certain habitat areas. But what drives these different social roles, and how do they shape entire ecosystems? My research integrates field observations, experiments, artificial intelligence, and bio-robotics to examine how fish presence, traits and behaviours shape social interactions.

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I am currently a BBSRC Research Fellow at the University of Oxford asking how initiation behaviour shapes cooperative and exploitative interactions.