Jess Lund

Jess is an evolutionary biologist and has been studying brood parasites – namely African Cuckoos, Greater Honeyguides, and Cuckoo Finches – for five years. She grew up on a farm in Limpopo, where her passion for birds began, and went on to do her BSc and Masters at the University of Cape Town. She is now doing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, and is investigating how the early lives of brood parasites in the nests of their hosts can influence their lives as adults. More broadly, she is interested in the effect of species interactions on evolution, as well as how these interactions can generate evolutionary novelty. Despite currently being based in the UK, she spends as much time as possible in the field in Mozambique and Zambia, and remains unashamedly biased towards African birdlife.