2005 Young Tall Poppy Science Award Recipient

Dr Rob Brooks
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales

While most people agree that beauty is skin deep, studies in evolutionary biology show that few traits are more advantageous to reproductive success than being attractive. This is due to the fact that good looking individuals leave more offspring than their unattractive contemporaries. Dr Rob Brooks, an evolutionary biologist, has made important contributions to this field and has an international reputation in the evolutionary, ecological and genetic study of sexual reproduction.

Rob uses laboratory animals like crickets, fish and guppies to understand how evolution shapes all animals. In a recent study with freshwater guppy fish popular in home aquariums, Rob discovered that there is genetic variation in sexual responsiveness, and that there are individual differences among females in what they find attractive. These differences have profound evolutionary and philosophical consequences. While certain traits make individuals more likely to be attractive to the majority of females, there is no universal agreement of sexual attractiveness. Differences among the females in responsiveness and in mating preference may help maintain variation in the species. "Our work shows that differences in the ways males and females attract their mates seem to lead to differences in the ways they age. This is an important insight for biomedical studies of ageing to grapple with".

Rob is a senior lecturer in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. He is an ARC QEII Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales and is focusing on the effects of evolution on traits that make an individual attractive to members of the opposite sex. His recent research includes a study of the costs of being attractive, such as reduced lifespan; and the links between sexual attraction, diet, genes and ageing. 

Rob was awarded his PhD at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. In the eight years that he has worked in Australia, he has been recognized with three major internationally-competitive research fellowships, eleven research grants totalling over $2 million and the Outstanding New Researcher Award of the UK-based Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Rob’s work has a high profile in the news and popular science media. He has participated in talks, National Science Week and Fresh Science Week.

Rob received a Young Tall Poppy Science Award in 2005.