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I finished my Ph.D. thesis in Zoology at the Department of Zoology and Entomology,
The University of Queensland, Australia in 2000 and I spent some years in the U.K. as a Post-doctoral researcher. I'm primarily interested in Behavioural Ecology and in particular predator avoidance behaviour, learning and memory in freshwater fishes. My Ph.D. was on the behavioural ecology of predator avoidance in rainbowfish (Melanotaenia spp.), but I have recently worked on guppies (P. reticulata) with Dr Kevin Laland at the Sub-department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge. I have also investigated improving life skills in hatchery reared salmonids utilising social learning protocols and environmental enrichment (sponsored by BBSRC). I moved to the Univesity of Edinburgh and worked with Dr Victoria Braithwaite. This research, sponsored by NERC, examined the ecological correlates of cognition in populations of poeciliids in Panama. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and was centred on the streams crossing the Pipeline Rd. I have produced a guide to the fishes of the Pipeline Rd to aid anyone interested in studying these fish. I was guest editor for a special edition of Fish and Fisheries on learning and memory in fishes which has now been extended to a book entitled Fish Cognition and Behaviour. After a stint at the University of Canterbury in NZ, I'm now a lecturer in Vertebrate Biology at Macquarie University. My current Australian Research Fellowship (ARC) investigates ecological and phylogentic correlates of lateralized behaviour in rainbowfish.
See my CV and list of papers below for more info.
Listen to me talking about fish intelligence on a question of balance 2SER or watch my segment on Catalyst
Email me at [email protected] or view my Lab Web Page for more infromation on my research
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My Publications:
Magat, D. and Brown, C. (2009) Laterality enhances cognition in Australian parrots Proceedings of the Royal Society B Early Online.
Read the reviews in Science and New Scientist.
Kydd, E. and Brown, C. (2009) Loss of shoaling preference for familiar individuals in captive-reared crimson spotted rainbowfish Melanotaenia duboulayi. Journal of Fish Biology, 74, 2187-2195.
Keller, K. and Brown, C. (2008) Behavioural interactions between the introduced plague minnow, Gambusia holbrooki and the vulnerable native Australian rainbowfish, Rhadinocentrus ornatus, under experimental conditions. Journal of Fish Biology, 73, 1714-1724.
Jones F.C., Brown, C. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2008) Lack of assortative mating between anadromous and freshwater sticklebacks from a hybrid zone. Behavior. 145, 463-484.
Brown, C., Jones F.C and Braithwaite, V.A. (2007) Correlation between boldness and bodymass in natural populations of the poeciliid, Brachyraphis episcopi. Journal of Fish Biology, 71, 1590-1601.
Brown C., Burgess, F. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2007) Heritable and experiential effects on boldness in a tropical peociliid. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 62, 237-243.
Brown, C., Western, J. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2007) The influence of early experience on, and inheritance of, cerebral lateralization. Animal Behaviour, 74, 231-238.
Read the New Scientist Review When Fish Get Emotional
Harding J., Brown C., Jones F.C. & Taylor R. (2007)Distribution & habitats of mosquito larvae in the kingdom of Tonga. Australian Journal of Entomology, 46, 332-338
Jones F.C, Brown, C., Pemberton, J.M. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2006) Reproductive isolation in a three-spine stickleback hybrid zone. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19, 1531-1544.
Brown, C., Gardner, G. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2005) Differential stress responses in fish from areas of high and low predation pressure. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 175, 305-312.
Brown, C., Jones F.C and Braithwaite (2005) In situ examination of boldness-shyness traits in the tropical poeciliid, Brachyraphis episcopi. Animal Behaviour, 70, 1003-1009.
Brown, C. (2005) Cerebral lateralisation; Social constraints and coordinated antipredator responses. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 28(4), 591-592.
Brown, C. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2005) Effects of predation pressure on the cognitive ability of the poeciliid Brachyraphis episcopi. Behavioural Ecology, 16(2), 482-487.
Brown, C., Gardner, G. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2004) Population variation in lateralised eye use in the poeciliid Brachyraphis episcopi. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B (suppl), 271, S455�S457.
Brown, C. and Braithwaite, V.A. (2004) Size matters: A test of boldness in eight populations of bishop, Brachyraphis episcopi Animal Behaviour, 68(6) 1325-1329.
Brown, C., Davidson, T. and Laland K. (2003) Environmental enrichment and prior experience improve foraging behaviour in hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon. Journal of Fish Biology, 63 (s1), 187-196.
Brown, C. and Laland, K. (2003) Social learning in fishes: A review. Fish and Fisheries, 4 (3), 280-288.
Laland, K., Brown, C. and Krause J. (2003) Learning in Fishes: An introduction. Fish and Fisheries, 4 (3), 199-202.
Brown, C., Markula, A. and Laland, K. (2003) Social learning of prey location in hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon. Journal of Fish Biology, 63(3), 738-745.
Brown, C. (2003) Habitat-predator association and avoidance in rainbowfish (Melanotaenia spp.). Ecology of Freshwater Fishes, 12(2), 118-126.
Brown, C. and Laland, K. (2002) Social enhancement and social inhibition in a novel foraging task in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Journal of Fish Biology, 61(4), 987-998.
Brown, C. and Laland, K. (2002) Social learning of a novel avoidance task in the guppy, P.reticulata: Conformity and social release. Animal Behaviour, 64(1) 41-47.
Brown, C. and Day, R. (2002) The future of stock enhancements: Bridging the gap between hatchery practice and conservation biology. Fish and Fisheries,3(2), 79-94.
Brown, C. (2002) Do female rainbowfish (Melanotaenia spp.) prefer to shoal with familiar individuals under predation pressure? Journal of Ethology, 20 (2), 89-94.
Brown, C. (2001) Familiarity with the test environment improves escape responses in the crimson spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia duboulayi. Animal Cognition, 4, 109-113.
Brown, C. and Laland, K.N.(2001) Social learning and life skills training for hatchery reared fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 59, 471-493.
Read the review of the hatchery paper in New Scientist
Day, R. MacDonald, T., Brown, C., Laland, K., and Reader, S.M. (2001) Interactions between shoal size and conformity in guppy social foraging. Animal Behaviour, 62, 917-925.
Swaney, W., Kendal, J., Capon, H., Brown, C. and Laland, K. (2001) Familiarity facilitates social learning of foraging behaviour in the guppy. Animal Behaviour, 62, 591-598.
Brown,C. and Warburton, K. (1999a) Differences in timidity and escape responses between predator-na�ve and predator-sympatric rainbowfish populations. Ethology, 105(6) 491-502
Brown,C. and Warburton, K. (1999b) Social mechanisms enhances escape responses in the rainbowfish Melanotaenia duboulayi. Env. Biol. Fish. 56, 455-459.
Brown,C. and Warburton, K. (1997) Predator recognition and anti-predator responses in the rainbowfish, Melanotaenia eachamensis. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 41(1): 61-68.
See my CV for more publications.
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