Dr Jessica van der Wal

PhD (St Andrews)

John Day Building Room 2.16

I am a behavioural ecologist intrigued by the profound variation in how different species specialise on resources. For my PhD at the University of St Andrews (2018), I studied the foraging ecology of tool use in New Caledonian crows. I thoroughly enjoy fieldwork in remote locations into little-understood systems and species. I take great pleasure in working alongside resident communities and in doing so incorporating their cultural values and the associated logistics of the local environment into the research plan. My keen interest in the natural world originates from my childhood in rural Tanzania.

I joined the FitzPatrick in March 2019 as a postdoctoral fellow, where I am hosted by Prof. Claire Spottiswoode. I research the ecology and evolution of the remarkable mutualism between human honey-hunters and Greater Honeyguides (www.AfricanHoneyguides.com). My main focus is on understanding the human cultural variation that sustains human-bird cooperation, such as the calls ‘honey-hunters’ use to communicate with honeyguides. I employ an interdisciplinary approach to address my research questions, integrating ideas and methodologies from a variety of academic disciplines such as biology, anthropology, linguistics, as well as citizen science.

In 2022, I initiated a pan-African collaborative to document the remaining honey-hunting cultures across the continent. In January 2023, I received funding from the Cultural Evolution Society Transformation Fund to grow this network further. The collaborative currently consists of early career researchers across more than six African countries, engaging with and documenting honey-hunting cultures in their home regions.

Current students

PhD

Eliupendo A. Laltaika (2022–current) Honeyguide-human cooperation across human cultural landscapes in Tanzania. (Co-supervisor: Claire Spottiswoode)

MSc

Amana O. Kilawi (2022–2023) Mutualism between honeyguides, beekeepers and honey-hunters in central Tanzania. (Co-supervisor: Claire Spottiswoode)

Wiro-Bless W. Kamboe (2023–2024) Interactions between honeyguides and people in northern Ghana. (Co-supervisors: Claire Spottiswoode; Timothy Khan Aikins)

George M. Malembo (2022–2023) Honey-hunting with honeyguides in northern Malawi. Registered at Mzuzu University, Malawi. (Co-supervisors: Lusayo Mwabumba; Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa)

David Garakva (2023–2024) The current state of human-honeyguide mutualism in Adamaoua, Cameroon. Registered at University of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon. (Co-supervisor: Mazi Sanda)

Peer-reviewed publications:

Cram, D.L., Lloyd-Jones, D.J., van der Wal, J.E.M., Lund, J., Buanachique, I.O., Muamedi, M., Nanguar, C.I., Ngovene, A., Raveh, S., Boner, W. and Spottiswoode, C.N. 2023. Guides and cheats: producer-scrounger dynamics in the human-honeyguide mutualism. Proceedings Royal Society B 290. 20232024.

van der Wal, J.E.M., Afan, A.I., Anyawire, M., Begg, C.M., Begg, K.S., Dabo, G.A., Gedi, I.I., Harris, J.A., Isack., H.A., Ibrahim, J.I, Jamie, G.A., Kamboe, W.-B.W., Kilawi, A.O., Kingston, A., Laltaika, EA., Lloyd-Jones, D.J., M'manga, G.M., Muhammad, N.Z., Ngcamphalala, C.A., Nhlabatsi, S.O., Oleleteyo, T.T., Sanda, M., Tsamkxao, L., Wood, B.M., Spottiswoode, C.N. and Cram., D.L., 2023 Do honey badgers and greater honeyguide birds coooperate to access bee's nests? Ecological evidence and honey-hunter accounts. Journal of Zoology 321. 22-32.

Lloyd-Jones, D.J., St Clair, J.J.H., Cram, D.L., Yassene, O., van der Wal, J.E.M. and Spottiswoode, C.N. 2022. When wax wanes: competitors for beeswax stabilize rather than jeopardize the honeyguide–human mutualism. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 289: 20221443.

Swinkels, C., van der Wal, J.E.M., Stinn, C., Monteza-Morena, C.M. and Jansen, P.A. 2022. Prey tracking and predator avoidance in a Neotropical moist forest: a camera-trapping approach. Journal of Mammalogy: gyac091.

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., Dixit, T., Dlamini, G.S., Dounias, E., Gedi, I.I., Gruber, M., Hoffman, L.S., Holzlehner, T., Isack, H.A., Laltaika, A.E., Lloyd-Jones, D.J., Lund, J., Machado, A.M.S., Mahadevan, L., Moreno, I.B., Nwaogu, C.J., Pereira, V.L., Pierotti, R., Rucunua, S.A., dos Santos, W.F., Serpa, N., Smith, B.D., Tolkova, I., Tun, T., Valle-Pereira, J.V.S., Wood, B.M., Wrangham, R.W. and Cram, D.L. 2022. Safeguarding human-wildlife cooperation. Conservation Letters, e12886

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., Dounias, E., Gedi, I.I., Gruber, M., Hoffman, L.S., Holzlehner, T., Isack, H.A., Laltaika, A.E., Lloyd-Jones, D.J., Lund, J., Machado, A.M.S., Mahadevan, L., Moreno, I.B., Nwaogu, C.J., Pereira, V.L., Pierotti, R., Rucunua, S.A., dos Santos, W.F., Serpa, N., Smith, B.D., Sridhar, H., Tolkova, I., Tun, T., Valle-Pereira, J.V.S., Wood, B.M., Wrangham, R.W. and Spottiswoode, C.N. 2022 The ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation. People and Nature, 00, 1–15.

van der Wal, J.E.M., Gedi, I. and Spottiswoode, C.N. 2022 Awer honey-hunting culture with greater honeyguides in coastal Kenya. Frontiers in Conservation Science 2: 727479.

van der Wal, J.E.M., Spottiswoode, C.N. and Sugasawa, S., 2022 Correspondence: Opportunities and risks of publishing academic talks online. Nature Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01755-6

van der Wal, J.E.M., Thorogood, R. and Horrocks, N.P.C. 2021 Collaboration enhances career progression in academic science, especially for female researchers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 288: 20210219.

St Clair, J., Klump, B.C., van der Wal, J.E.M., Sugasawa, S. and Rutz, C. 2016 Strong between-site variation in New Caledonian crows’ use of hook-tool-making materials. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118: 226-232.

Rutz, C., Sugasawa, S., van der Wal, J.E.M., Klump, B.C. and St Clair, J. 2016 Tool bending in New Caledonian crows. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160439.

Klump, B.C., van der Wal, J.E.M, St Clair, J. and Rutz, C. 2015 Context-dependent ‘safekeeping’ of foraging tools in New Caledonian crows. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282: 20150278.

van der Wal, J.E.M., Dorenbosch, M., Immers, A.K., Vidal Forteza, C., Geurts, J.J., Peeters, E.T., Koese, B. and Bakker, E.S. 2013 Invasive crayfish threaten the development of submerged macrophytes in lake restoration. PLoS One 8: e78579.

Semi-popular articles:

van der Wal, J.E.M., Spottiswoode, C.N. and Cram, D.L. 2022. Why it’s crucial to preserve the ancient practice of finding wild honey with birds. The Conversation, 15 June.

van der Wal, J.E.M. 2022. How we can safeguard rare cases of cooperation between people and wild animals. Current Conservation, 26 Oct.