We’re delighted to welcome Professor Isabel Smallegange as our new Head of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway.
Isabel Smallegange brings extensive leadership experience with an emphasis on fostering inclusive, high-performing research environments. Her own research as a population biologist integrates developmental biology, behavioural ecology, and ecological modelling to understand how organisms shape and are shaped by their environments.
Commenting on her appointment, Professor Smallegange said:
“I’m delighted to be joining Royal Holloway and am very much looking forward to getting to know colleagues and students across Biological Sciences. The Department has tremendous breadth and expertise, and I’m excited about working with colleagues and students to build on those strengths and help shape the next phase of its development across research, education and engagement. I’m particularly looking forward to help sustain an inclusive and collaborative environment in which people and ideas can flourish.”
Professor Smallegange brings extensive leadership experience with an emphasis on fostering inclusive, high-performing academic environments. She is a population biologist whose research explores how development, behaviour and environmental change shape individual life histories and population dynamics.
Her research combines theory, experiments and ecological modelling across systems ranging from model invertebrates to fishes and marine megafauna. She has pioneered frameworks linking energetics, developmental plasticity and demography. Her work addresses fundamental questions about life-history evolution and population resilience while also informing biodiversity conservation and responses to environmental change. She also leads interdisciplinary collaborations spanning ecology, evolution, behavioural science, philosophy and conservation.
Professor Smallegange has previously worked at Newcastle University, the University of Amsterdam, Imperial College London, Oxford University and the Max Planck Institute.
