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Dr. E.R. (Emily) Burdfield Steel

Assistant Professor of Chemical Ecology
Faculty of Science
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

Visiting address
  • Science Park 904
  • Room number: C3.207
Postal address
  • Postbus 94240
    1090 GE Amsterdam
Contact details
  • Profile

    Insect Chemical and Evolutionary Ecology

    I am interested in how intra- and inter-specific species communication shapes evolutionary processes. My areas of study are the evolution of mating communication systems in response to reproductive interference and the role of chemical defence in aposematic insect populations. I am particularly interested in cases when communication breaks down, and what these “mistakes” can tell us about selection pressures acting on system.

  • Publications

    2023

    • Burdfield-Steel, E., & Burdfield, C. (2023). How to fail in advertising: The potential of marketing theory to predict the community-level selection of defended prey. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.14160
    • Groot, A. T., Blankers, T., Halfwerk, W., & Burdfield Steel, E. (2023). The Evolutionary Importance of Intraspecific Variation in Sexual Communication Across Sensory Modalities. Annual Review of Entomology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-030223-111608
    • Kikuchi, D. W., Allen, W. L., Arbuckle, K., Aubier, T. G., Briolat, E. S., Burdfield-Steel, E. R., Cheney, K. L., Daňková, K., Elias, M., Hämäläinen, L., Herberstein, M. E., Hossie, T. J., Joron, M., Kunte, K., Leavell, B. C., Lindstedt, C., Lorioux-Chevalier, U., McClure, M., McLellan, C. F., ... Exnerová, A. (2023). The evolution and ecology of multiple antipredator defences. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 36(7), 975-991. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.14192

    2022

    2021

    2020

    2019

    • Rojas, B., Mappes, J., & Burdfield-Steel, E. (2019). Multiple modalities in insect warning displays have additive effects against wild avian predators. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 73(3), Article 37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-019-2643-6

    2019

    • Gordon, S., & Burdfield Steel, E. R. (2019). [Review of: G.D. Ruxton, W.L. Allen, T.N. Sherratt, M.P. Speed (2018) Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Aposematism, and Mimicry]. Basic and Applied Ecology, 36, 54-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2019.03.003 [details]

    2022

    • Blankers, T., Fruitet, E. C. E., Burdfield Steel, E. R., & Groot, A. T. (2022). Experimental evolution of a pheromone signal. Poster session presented at European Society for Evolutionary Biology 2022 Prague.

    2019

    • Blankers-, T., Burdfield Steel, E. R., Fruitet, E. C. E., & Groot, A. T. (2019). Evolution of sex pheromone communication in response to artificial selection. Poster session presented at Netherlands Society for Evolutionary Biology, Ede, Netherlands.
    • Burdfield Steel, E. R., Blankers-, T., Fruitet, E. C. E., & Groot, A. T. (2019). Coping with change – how can chemical communication systems overcome disruptions?.
    • Fruitet, E. C. E., Blankers-, T., Burdfield Steel, E. R., Heckel, D. G., & Groot, A. T. (2019). How costly it is to be sexy?. Poster session presented at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology Symposium.

    Talk / presentation

    • Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker) (7-4-2022). Chemicals and colours uncovering the chemical signals maintaining aposematic warning signal variation, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) Easter Meeting.
    • Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker) (25-11-2021). Chemicals and colours - uncovering the chemical signals maintaining a colour polymorphism, Netherlands Society for Behavioural Biology Annual meeting.
    • Blankers-, T. (speaker), Fruitet, E. (speaker), Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker) & Groot, A. (speaker) (21-6-2021). The selection response of a multicomponent sexual signal, Virtual Evolution 2021.
    • Blankers-, T. (speaker), Groot, A. (speaker), Fruitet, E. (speaker), Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker) & Lievers, R. (speaker) (19-1-2021). Plasticity, variation, and constraint in sex pheromone signals, Netherlands Society for Evolutionary Biology 2021.
    • Blankers-, T. (speaker), Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker), Fruitet, E. (speaker) & Groot, A. (speaker) (13-12-2019). The evolution of sex pheromones, NEV Nederlandse Entomologendag.
    • Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker) (4-7-2019). Colour heritability in a variable aposematic insect, Anti-Predator Coloration Symposium.
    • Burdfield Steel, E. (speaker) (11-2-2019). Diversity in Science - can academic societies lead the way?, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Paris.

    Others

    • Burdfield Steel, E. (organiser) (5-7-2019). Anti-Predator Coloration Symposium. Workshop - Big question in antipredator colouration (organising a conference, workshop, ...).

    2023

    2020

    • Gao, K. (2020). Sexual selection in a dynamic world: The causes and consequences of variation in sexual signals and responses. [Thesis, fully internal, Universiteit van Amsterdam]. [details]

    2022

    2021

    2020

    • Suisto, K., Mappes, J., Lindstedt, C., Winters, A. E. & Burdfield Steel, E. (2020). Data from: Defense against predators incurs high reproductive costs for the aposematic moth Arctia plantaginis. DRYAD. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5tfk
    This list of publications is extracted from the UvA-Current Research Information System. Questions? Ask the library or the Pure staff of your faculty / institute. Log in to Pure to edit your publications. Log in to Personal Page Publication Selection tool to manage the visibility of your publications on this list.
  • Ancillary activities
    No ancillary activities