Loeske Kruuk

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Loeske E. B. Kruuk
Alma mater
Occupation
Awards
Academic career
Institutions

Loeske E. B. Kruuk FRS FRSE is an evolutionary ecologist who is a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Edinburgh. She was awarded the 2018 European Society for Evolutionary Biology President's Award. In 2023, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. [1]

Contents

Education and early research

Kruuk started her academic career in 1988 studying mathematics at Somerville College, Oxford. [2] She switched to biology with an MSc in Ecology at the University of Aberdeen, and then a PhD in population genetics at the University of Edinburgh, where she investigated amphibian hybrid zones with Nick Barton. [3] For postdoctoral research with Tim Clutton-Brock at the University of Cambridge and Josephine Pemberton at the University of Edinburgh, she studied evolutionary processes in red deer. During this position, she started to appreciate the power of long-term wild animal population studies in understanding evolutionary ecology and quantitative genetics. [4]

Career achievements

In 2000, Kruuk held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, and became Professor of Evolutionary Ecology in 2009. She moved to the Australian National University in 2012. [4] Her research laboratory investigated the influence of climate change on animal populations. Her work there focused on wild vertebrate species, [5] [6] and considered evolution and natural selection in natural populations, effects of ongoing environmental change, quantitative genetics, inbreeding and inbreeding depression, maternal effects and life history evolution. She was awarded an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship in 2020. [7]

In 2021, Kruuk was selected as a Royal Society Research Professor, which allowed her to return to the University of Edinburgh. [8] There she continues research on the Rum red deer project, studying the ecology and evolution of red deer on the Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides. [9] She also works on the St Kilda soay sheep project, [10] as well as contining research on other example species. [11]

In 2021 Kruuk was awarded a European Research Council Advanced grant for her project EVOWILD [12] coordinating research across a number of other groups to increase understanding of evolution in nature. [13]

Awards and honours

Selected publications



References

  1. 1 2 "Loeske Kruuk". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Celebrating the Past - Investing in the Future" (PDF). Somerville College, Oxford. 2016. p. 19. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Kruuk, Loeske (1997). Barriers to gene flow in a Bombina (fire-bellied toad) hybrid zone and multi-locus cline theory: PhD thesis. Edinburgh, UK: University of Edinburgh.
  4. 1 2 "Loeske Kruuk". biology.anu.edu.au. ANU Research School of Biology. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "Kruuk Group - Evolutionary ecology and quantitative genetics". biology.anu.edu.au. ANU Research School of Biology. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Are our wild animals growing old gracefully?". phys.org. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  7. 1 2 "2020 Laureate Profile: Professor Loeske Kruuk". Australian Research Council . Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  8. 1 2 "World-class scientists awarded Royal Society Research Professorships". royalsociety.org. Royal Society. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Pemberton, JM; Kruuk, L; Clutton-Brock, TH (2022). "The unusual value of long-term studies of individuals: The example of the Isle of Rum red deer project". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 53: 327–351. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012722-024041.
  10. ↑ Mittel, Elisabeth A; Pemberton, Josephine M; Kruuk, Loeske E B; Morrisey, Michael B (2025). "Unmeasured prior viability selection resolves the paradox of stasis for body size in wild Soay sheep". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 122 (48): e2513969122. doi:10.1073/pnas.2513969122.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  11. ↑ Strickland, K; Jones, M; Lachish, S; Comte, S; Ross, R H; Hohenlohe, P A; McCallum, H; Storfer, A; Kruuk, L E B (2025). "Life-history trade-offs and reproductive strategies in Tasmanian devils following disease-induced population decline". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 292: 20250697. doi:10.1098/rspb.2025.0697.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  12. 1 2 "EVOWILD: Evolution in wild propulations". EVOWILD. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "ERC: Evolution in wild populations". CORDIS - EU research results. European Commission. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "ESEB President's Award". biology.anu.edu.au. ANU Research School of Biology. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "Mary Lyon Medal". biology.anu.edu.au. ANU Research School of Biology. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "EMBO Member: Loeske E. B. Kruuk". EMBO. European Molecular Biology Organization. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "ARC Future Fellowship". biology.anu.edu.au. ANU Research School of Biology. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "Professor Loeske Kruuk FRSE". Professor Loeske Kruuk: Royal Society of Edinburgh. Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  19. ↑ "Zoological Society of London Scientific Medal Winners" (PDF). Awards: ZSL. Zoological Society of London. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "Philip Leverhulme Prize". biology.anu.edu.au. ANU Research School of Biology. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
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