Dr Michelle L Taylor

I am an evolutionary ecologist by training, specializing in the genetics of behaviour. My previous research at the University of Western Australia and University of Exeter used Drosophila as a model system to explore sexual selection and the evolution of female reproductive behaviour and in so doing, I developed a broad understanding of experimental design and statistical analysis in Biosciences. More recently, I was a scientific language editor at Cactus Global, working with clients in plant and animal sciences to improve the clarity and presentation of manuscripts at the journal pre-submission stage. Together, these two areas of expertise enable me to fulfil a new role as Senior Research Associate in Statistics and Experimental Design in the Life Sciences and Health Sciences faculties at University of Bristol. 

I will be primarily working with research staff during the planning stage of research to refine experimental design, increase power, and clearly communicate experimental design and statistical analysis to grant funding bodies and ethics committees to increase the reproducibility and reliability of research. Examples of the type of support I provide include:

• Preparation of the Experimental Design/Statistical Analysis section for funding and ethics applications
• Clarification of experimental design to comply with guidelines from the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in research
• Refinement of experimental design to maximize the information from individual study systems
• Development of methods and analysis to effectively support individual research projects
• Availability of software and resources for statistical analysis
• Presentation of statistics to comply with journal guidelines