Evolutionary work at UWA is conducted by three groups within the School of Animal Biology. The Evolutionary Biology Research Group is chaired by Leigh Simmons (ARC Federation Fellow 2004-2009). The EBRG adopts a multidisciplinary approach from simple behavioural observation, to molecular, comparative, physiological, and morphological analyses. Current research focuses on how sexual selection acts on male and female reproductive biology, from the behaviour and morphology of the adult organism to the gametes it produces. The group currently hosts two post doctoral scientist, Paco García-González who is working on sperm competition in non-social insects, and Boris Baer who is working on sexual selection and sperm competition in bees and ants. The EBRG has strong ties with Dale Roberts' Herpetology Lab and there are collaborative research programs examining sperm competition in frogs and lizards.
The EBRG also has a program of research on humans. There is an active research collaboration with Gill Rhodes from the School of Psychology whose work examines why human faces are attractive. Joint Hons, Master's and PhD programs have been run through Animal Biology and Psychology, that address the significance of sexual selection for human evolution. Human life-history evolution is also the subject of Jim Chisholm's research in the School of Anatomy and Human Biology.
The Genetics Lab in the School of Animal Biology is chaired by Mike Johnson, whose research focuses on population and conservation genetics. Research in this group is diverse, and currently includes projects on adaptive genetic divergence in intertidal snails, evolutionary genetics of land snails, genetic structure and phylogeography of micro-crustaceans, and conservation genetics of trees. The Genetics Lab currently hosts three post docs, Jason Kennington working on the costs of gene flow and the genetic bases of traits involved with fitness variation, Terry Finston who is working on population genetics of Western Australian stygofauna, and Gavin Gouwns working on phylogeny of isopods.
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