My research is concerned with the functions and evolution of social behaviour in animals. I’m particularly interested in how groups are organised, how animals interact and acquire information from one another, and in how individual behaviour affects and is affected by that of the group. For the most part I use shoaling fishes and aquatic crustaceans as study systems for understanding more general aspects of social behaviour.

Webster, MM 2017, 'Experience and motivation shape leader-follower interactions in fish shoals' Behavioral Ecology, vol 28, no. 1, pp. 77-84. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw133 Taylor, DEF, Cownden, D & Webster, MM 2016, 'Sticklebacks show consistent prey-share hierarchies within but not between patchy and sequential prey distributions' Journal of Zoology, vol 300, no. 2, pp. 137-141. DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12350 Seebacher, F, Webster, MM, James, RS, Tallis, J & Ward, AJW 2016, 'Morphological differences between habitats are associated with physiological and behavioural trade-offs in stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)' Royal Society Open Science, vol 3, 1603316. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160316 Ward, AJW & Webster, MM 2016, Sociality: The Behaviour of Group Living Animals. 1 edn, Springer. Smith, L & Webster, MM 2015, 'Gammarus pulex show a grouping response to conspecific injury cues but not to predator kairomones' Behavioral Ecology, vol 26, no. 4, pp. 1188-1195. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv071