BSc (1972) University of Newcastle; DPhil (1976) University of Oxford Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader in Zoology, University of Sheffield (1976-92) Professor of Behavioural Ecology, University of Sheffield (1992-present) Fellow of the Royal Society 2004 Senate Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching 2007 Teacher of the Year Award 2009, Animal & Plant Sciences Elliot Coues medal 2010 for outstanding and innovative contributions to ornithological research ASAB medal (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) 2012 for outstanding contributions to the study of animal behaviour UK Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award (2013) Zoological Society of London Silver Medal 2014 for contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology, including such activities as public education in natural history Eisenmann Medal (Linnaean Society of New York) 2015 for excellence in ornithology and encouragement of the amateur Godman-Salvin Medal, for 'distinguished ornithogical work' by the British Ornithologists' Union (2016) Founders' Medal of the Society for the Study of the History of Natural History (SHNH), for contributions to the history and bibliography of natural history (2016)

I have three main research areas:

Post-copulatory sexual selection, mainly in birds. Population biology of birds. The history of science, and of reproduction and ornithology in particular.

Hemmings N, Bennison C & Birkhead TR (2016) Intra-ejaculate sperm selection in female zebra finches.. Biol Lett, 12(6). View this article in WRRO Mundy NI, Stapley J, Bennison C, Tucker R, Twyman H, Kim K-W, Burke T, Birkhead TR, Andersson S & Slate J (2016) Red Carotenoid Coloration in the Zebra Finch Is Controlled by a Cytochrome P450 Gene Cluster. Current Biology, 26(11), 1435-1440. View this article in WRRO Mills JA, Teplitsky C, Arroyo B, Charmantier A, Becker PH, Birkhead TR, Bize P, Blumstein DT, Bonenfant C, Boutin S, Bushuev A, Cam E, Cockburn A, Côté SD, Coulson JC, Daunt F, Dingemanse NJ, Doligez B, Drummond H, Espie RHM, Festa-Bianchet M, Frentiu FD, Fitzpatrick JW, Furness RW, Gauthier G, Grant PR, Griesser M, Gustafsson L, Hansson B, Harris MP, Jiguet F, Kjellander P, Korpimäki E, Krebs CJ, Lens L, Linnell JDC, Low M, McAdam A, Margalida A, Merilä J, Møller AP, Nakagawa S, Nilsson J-Å, Nisbet ICT, van Noordwijk AJ, Oro D, Pärt T, Pelletier F, Potti J, Pujol B, Réale D, Rockwell RF, Ropert-Coudert Y, Roulin A, Thébaud C, Sedinger JS, Swenson JE, Visser ME, Wanless S, Westneat DF, Wilson AJ & Zedrosser A (2016) Solutions for Archiving Data in Long-Term Studies: A Reply to Whitlock et al.. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 31(2), 85-87. Hemmings N & Birkhead TR (2016) Consistency of passerine embryo development and the use of embryonic staging in studies of hatching failure. Ibis, 158(1), 43-50. Hemmings N & Birkhead TR (2015) Polyspermy in birds: sperm numbers and embryo survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1818), 20151682-20151682. View this article in WRRO