Biography

Dr Isabel Smallegange is a population biologist whose research integrates developmental biology, behavioural ecology, and ecological modelling to understand how organisms shape and are shaped by their environments. She is known for pioneering frameworks that link energetics and agency to phenotypic plasticity, with applications from invertebrates to marine megafauna.

At Newcastle University, Dr Smallegange is Academic Group Lead for the Modelling, Evidence and Policy group, Co-Lead of the Behaviour Newcastle University Centre of Research Excellence  and Director of Culture & Inclusion in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. In these roles, she leads strategic initiatives to foster inclusive, high-performing research environments, strengthen early career researcher development and build interdisciplinary collaborations that address societal and environmental challenges.

Her career spans leading institutions including the University of Amsterdam, Imperial College London, Oxford University and the Max Planck Institute. She has secured over £2.8M in competitive personal Fellowships, served in governance and policy roles at faculty and national levels, serves on international editorial boards, grant panels and scientific advisory councils and has been recognised as a Top Scholar in Population Dynamics by ScholarGPS (2024).

Research summary

Dr Smallegange is a population biologist with expertise in developmentally informed demography, experimental evolution, and ecological modelling. Her research integrates theory and empiricism to understand how developmental and behavioural processes shape eco-evolutionary population dynamics in both marine and terrestrial systems. She has pioneered frameworks linking energetics and agency to phenotypic plasticity, with applications from model invertebrates to marine megafauna, including studies on the ecology, behaviour and conservation of species in changing ocean environments. Her work has been recognised internationally and she leads interdisciplinary collaborations spanning marine biology, terrestrial ecology, philosophy and conservation, generating insights that inform both fundamental science and applied management in the context of global environmental change.

On this blog she posts on her research results and here she writes about balancing academic and home life.