Doctor Amanda Ridley
Nationality: New Zealand
Year: 2001
Subject Area: Science and Engineering
The Wingate scholarship I received allowed me to continue my PhD fieldwork in Israel, researching social interactions in the cooperatively breeding Arabian babbler (Turdoides squamiceps). This research revealed fascinating patterns of social behaviour and preferential care of young never recorded before, and provided the impetus for further research. After completing my PhD, I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by Newnham College, Cambridge. During this time I went to the Kalahari Desert, South Africa to establish my own research project on a species closely related to the Arabian babbler – the pied babbler (Turdoides bicolor). Establishing a habituated population for the purposes of long-term research was tough work, involving a lot of time in the scorching heat of the Kalahari – but ultimately the investment paid off. I succeeded in establishing a fully habituated population of 15 pied babbler groups. Since its establishment in 2003, the research project has attracted interest from other researchers as well as the media. There are now three PhD students, two postdoctoral researchers, and two Honours students conducting research on the population. In addition, the project has been featured in TV and radio programmes, magazine articles, press releases, and scientific publications. The pied babblers have proved themselves to be a fascinating study species due to their complex and dynamic societies and the ways that they differ to the closely related Arabian babbler. I am now based at the Centre of Excellence, Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town as a postdoctoral research fellow. I continue to conduct research on and oversee management of the Pied Babbler Research Project. Ultimately, I hope for the research project to continue long-term so that we can continue to unravel the mysteries of this fascinating species.