BSc (University of Cambridge), MSc (University of Cambridge), PhD (University of Cambridge)

Mairenn is a behavioural ecologist who is fascinated by species interactions, primarily parasitism, mimicry, and communication. For her postdoctoral research fellowship, she is studying how species cooperate with and deceive each other, and how they use communication for both. She is funded by the Max Planck–University of Cape Town Centre for Behaviour and Coevolution and is working with Prof. Claire Spottiswoode at the FitzPatrick Institute. Her projects span multiple avian systems, with a focus on phenomena such as vocal mimicry, eavesdropping and mimetic accuracy. 

Mairenn completed both her PhD and MSc research in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, studying brood parasitism – where hosts are manipulated into raising a parasite’s chick. She focused on Fork-tailed Drongos Dicrurus adsimilis and their specialist parasite, the African cuckoo Cuculus gularis. The coevolutionary battle between these species plays out in the miombo woodlands of Choma, Zambia, where, together with a field team, Mairenn conducted behavioural experiments and observations. 

Mairenn’s love for behavioural ecology developed during her undergraduate degree, also at the University of Cambridge, where she worked on projects across taxa, including the impact of parasitic plants on invasive Oxalis; the function of buccal oscillations in túngara frogs; interactions between pollen beetles and rock roses; and variation in invertebrate diversity across ancient and recently planted woodland. In her final-year project, she investigated behavioural responses to kleptoparasitism risk in sticklebacks, supervised by Prof. Nick Davies. Across these diverse taxa, interactions between individuals and species emerged as a central research interest. 

Outside of her core research, Mairenn worked with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to investigate how we can use biodiversity indicators to test international conservation targets. She believes that science is for everyone and leads outreach sessions in schools and museums in Zambia and the UK (including the Scholars Programme with The Brilliant Club). 

PhD thesis:

Exploiters and exploited: antagonism, mutualism and mimicry in an ecological community. University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.123936

Selected publications

• Attwood, M. C. (2025). How do parasites and predators choose their victim? A trade‐off between quality and vulnerability across antagonistic interactions. Biological Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70037
• Feeney, W. E., Kennerley, J. A., Wheatcroft, D., Liang, W., Lamb, J. B., Teunissen, N., Lawson, S. L., Enos, J. K., Zhou, B., Poje, C., Richardson, N. M., Ryan, T. A., Cowan, Z., Brooker, R. M., Attwood, M. C., Boersma, J., Zamora, M., Attisano, A., Gula, R., … Blasi, D. E. (2025). Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 9(11), 2103–2115. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02855-9
• Attwood, M. C., Lund, J., Nwaogu, C. J., Moya, C., & Spottiswoode, C. N. (2023). Aggressive hosts are undeterred by a cuckoo’s hawk mimicry, but probably make good foster parents. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 290(1990), 20221506. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1506
• Lund, J., Dixit, T., Attwood, M. C., Hamama, S., Moya, C., Stevens, M., Jamie, G. A., & Spottiswoode, C. N. (2023). When perfection isn’t enough: host egg signatures are an effective defence against high-fidelity African cuckoo mimicry. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290, 20231125. https://doi.org/10.1098/RSPB.2023.1125
• Cram, D.L., van der Wal, J.E.M., Uomini, N.T., Cantor, M., Afan, A.I., Attwood, M.C., Amphaeris, J., Balasani, F., Blair, C.J., Bronstein, J.L., Buanachique, I.O., Cuthill, R.R.T., Das, J., Daura-Jorge, F.G., Deb, A., Dixit, T., Dlamini, G.S., … Spottiswoode, C.N. (2022). The ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation. People and Nature. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10369
• van der Wal, J.E.M., Spottiswoode, C.N., Uomini, N.T., Cantor, M., Daura-Jorge, F.G., Afan, A.I., Attwood, M.C., Amphaeris, J., Balasani, F., Begg, C.M., Blair, C.J., Bronstein, J.L., Buanachique, I.O., Cuthill, R.R.T., Das, J., Deb, A., … Cram, D.L. (2022). Safeguarding human-wildlife cooperation. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12886