Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison)

Comparative Psychology | Behavioural Ecology | Conservation

I am currently a Visiting Scholar (previously Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2015-2022) at the Department of Psychology,

University of Cambridge, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Environment, Science & Economy, University of Exeter and an Affiliate (previously Senior Lecturer, 2021-2024) at the School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, with extensive knowledge & skills in: research with 43 publications; h-index = 20; i10-index = 30; citations: 1331 and international Comparative Cognition Society Award (see "News" page), university-level teaching in Biology, Psychology & Zoology (with a PG Cert in Learning & Teaching), academic supervision & mentoring, funding acquisition, national and international collaborations, project management & administration, with specific expertise in animal cognition & behaviour, welfare & conservation and child development. See "Professional Career" page for more info. 

My research programme, incorporating fundamental and applied approaches and impacts, includes lead roles in three overarching, interconnected areas: 1) Comparative, Evolutionary and Developmental Psychology, Behavioural Ecology, 2) Big-Team Open Science (ManyBirds Project Co-Founder with 100+ collaborators; ManyManys collaborator), 3) Applications of fundamental research in cognition and behaviour for conservation and welfare impact (Bali myna Project; Red-billed chough Project). See "Current Projects"  page for more info. 

I use evolutionary, developmental and comparative approaches to test causes and consequences of individual and species variation in cognition and behaviour, primarily in birds and humans. I have led, collaborated on and supervised experimental and observational research on cognitive traits including social learning, self-control, decision-making, neophobia and innovation. For example, my research demonstrates that individual cognitive traits can be stable (repeatable) or flexible, depending on age and context, e.g. corvid neophobia varies over development, though ravens are strongly shaped by their social groups (Behav Ecol Socio, PLOS ONE), Eurasian jays flexibly adapt self-control choices depending on competitor presence (PLOS ONE) and adult Bali myna are more neophobic than juveniles (RSOS). Carrion crows, jays and Bali myna learn socially, with e.g. Bali myna being more likely to copy a model's choices in a higher-risk context (Ethology, Peer J). I led an international 10-lab collaborative study of 10 corvid species and we identified socio-ecological correlates of neophobia in corvids relating to (urban) habitat use, sociality and foraging (Curr Bio). In co-authored research, we showed that New Caledonian crows reason about hidden causal agents (PNAS) and flexibly plan for future tool-use (Proc B) in a comparable way to 3-5 year old children (RSOS). These insights broadly contribute to advancing cognitive evolution theory while offering practical conservation and welfare-relevant tools. See "Publications" page for more info. ​

I advocate Open Science practices, including publishing all data-sets associated with my papers, pre-registering (from Nov 2018) and pre-printing my work.