Dr Chris Cooney

School of Biosciences

Lecturer

BIOSC staff profile Chris Cooney
Profile picture of BIOSC staff profile Chris Cooney
c.cooney@sheffield.ac.uk
B82, Alfred Denny Building

Full contact details

Dr Chris Cooney
School of Biosciences
B82
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile
  • NERC Independent Research Fellow, University of Sheffield (2021-present)
  • Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Sheffield (2019-2020)
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sheffield (2014-2019)
  • DPhil Zoology, University of Oxford (2010-2014)
  • BSc Biology, University of York (2007-2010)
Research interests

Our research seeks to understand the processes structuring large-scale patterns of biodiversity. As a lab we specialise in the use and development of phylogenetic comparative methods and large datasets to address fundamental questions about the forces shaping Earth’s biodiversity and the factors responsible for maintaining it.

We work on a broad range of macro-scale ecological and evolutionary questions, often using birds as a model system. In particular, we are interested in understanding the interaction between sexual selection and ecology in driving evolutionary dynamics within birds and across the Tree of Life.

Our key research themes include:

• The evolution of sexual signalling traits
• Sexual dimorphism, sexual selection and speciation
• The drivers of speciation rate variation
• Geographic and taxonomic diversity gradients
• The causes and consequences of species co-existence

Publications

Journal articles

  • Nordén KK, Cooney CR, Babarović F & Stoddard MC (2026) . Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 23(238).
  • He Y, Cooney CR, Maddock S & Thomas GH (2025) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
  • Chen Y-C, Vendrami DLJ, Huber ML, Handel LEY, Cooney CR, Hoffman JI & Gossmann TI (2025) . Genome Research, 35(6), 1313-1324.
  • Wiethase JH, Mostert PS, Cooney CR, O'Hara RB & Beale CM (2024) . Global Ecology and Biogeography, 33(5).
  • Stankowski S, Cutter AD, Satokangas I, Lerch BA, Rolland J, Smadja CM, Segami Marzal JC, Cooney CR, Feulner PGD, Bicalho Domingos FMC , North HL et al (2024) . Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, 3(1).
  • Guillerme T, Bright JA, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK, Cooper N, Beckerman AP & Thomas GH (2023) . Science Advances, 9(43).
  • Babarović F, Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Nadeau NJ & Thomas GH (2023) . Behavioral Ecology, 34(3), 387-398.
  • He Y, Cooney CR, Maddock S & Thomas GH (2023) . PLOS Computational Biology, 19(2).
  • Hardie JL & Cooney CR (2022) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
  • Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(12), 1838-1839.
  • He Y, Varley Z, Moody C, Nouri L, Jardine M, Maddock S, Thomas G & Cooney C (2022) . Nature Communications, 13.
  • Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6, 1035-1045.
  • Cooney CR, He Y, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD, Liker A, Székely T & Thomas GH (2022) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(5), 622-629.
  • Hughes EC, Edwards DP, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2022) . Ecology Letters, 25(3), 598-610.
  • Tobias JA, Sheard C, Pigot AL, Devenish AJM, Yang J, Sayol F, Neate‐Clegg MHC, Alioravainen N, Weeks TL, Barber RA , Walkden PA et al (2022) . Ecology Letters, 25(3), 581-597.
  • Rombaut LMK, Capp EJR, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2022) . Evolution Letters, 6(1), 83-91.
  • Cooney CR, Mank JE & Wright AE (2021) . Evolution, 75(11), 2857-2866.
  • Cooney CR & Thomas GH (2021) . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 5(1), 101-110.
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2020) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938).
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2020) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938).
  • Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Szekely T, Hemmings N & Wright AE (2020) . Nature Communications, 11.
  • Yusuf L, Heatley MC, Palmer JPG, Barton HJ, Cooney CR & Gossmann TI (2020) . Genome Research, 30(4), 553-565.
  • Navalón G, Marugán-Lobón J, Bright JA, Cooney CR & Rayfield EJ (2020) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4(2), 270-278.
  • Wright AE, Rogers TF, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR & Mank JE (2019) . Molecular Ecology, 28(11), 2860-2871.
  • Marki PZ, Kennedy JD, Cooney CR, Rahbek C & Fjeldså J (2019) . Evolution, 73(6), 1226-1240.
  • Cooney CR, Varley ZK, Nouri LO, Moody CJA, Jardine MD & Thomas GH (2019) . Nature Communications, 10.
  • Cooney CR, MacGregor HEA, Seddon N & Tobias JA (2018) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1889).
  • Chira AM, Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2018) . Ecology Letters, 21(10), 1505-1514.
  • Afanasyeva A, Bockwoldt M, Cooney C, Heiland I & Gossmann T (2018) . Genome research, 28(7), 975-982.
  • Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N & Mank JE (2018) . Evolution Letters, 2(2), 52-61.
  • Cooney CR, Tobias JA, Weir JT, Botero CA & Seddon N (2017) . Ecology Letters, 20(7), 863-871.
  • Cooney CR, Bright JA, Capp EJR, Chira AM, Hughes EC, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK & Thomas GH (2017) . Nature, 542, 344-347.
  • Cooney CR, Seddon N & Tobias JA (2016) . Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(4), 869-878.
  • Brulez K, Mikšík I, Cooney CR, Hauber ME, Lovell PG, Maurer G, Portugal SJ, Russell D, Reynolds SJ & Cassey P (2016) . Ecology and Evolution, 6(6), 1637-1645.
  • Walker JM, Cooney CR, Kulmuni J, Lohse K, Meier JI, Merrill RM, Scordato E, Smadja CM, Singhal S, Butlin RK & Stankowski S () . Evolution Letters.
  • Shaw KL, Cooney CR, Mendelson TC, Ritchie MG, Roberts NS & Yusuf LH () . Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, a041427-a041427.

Datasets

  • Hughes E, Edwards D, Bright J, Capp E, Cooney C, Varley Z & Thomas G .
  • Cooney C, Thomas G & He Y .
  • Cooney C, Thomas G & He Y .
  • Cooney C .
  • Cooney C & Hardie J .
  • Guillerme T, Thomas G, Cooper N, Beckerman A, Cooney C, Bright J, Hughes E & Varley Z .
  • Thomas G, Cooney C & Reiss A .

Preprints

  • He Y, Ioannou E, Harris K, Thomas G, Maddock S, Renoult J & Cooney C (2026) , openRxiv.
  • MacDonald RX, Harris K, He Y, Hughes EC, Ioannou E, James TD, Jardine MD, Moody CJA, Nouri LO, Varley ZK , Thomas GH et al (2026) , openRxiv.
  • Gómez-Llano M, Cooney C, Janicke T, MacDonald R & Morrow EH (2026) , openRxiv.
  • Nordén KK, Cooney CR, Babarović F & Stoddard MC (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Babarovic F, Cooney CR, Zinn T, Drobniak SM, Janas K, Kennedy JD, Nadeau NJ, Parnell AJ, Thomas GH & Burg S (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Babarovic F, Cooney CR, Guillerme T, Nadeau NJ & Thomas GH (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Chen Y-C, Vendrami DLJ, Huber ML, Handel LEY, Cooney CR, Hoffman JI & Gossmann TI (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Guillerme T, Bright JA, Cooney CR, Hughes EC, Varley ZK, Cooper N, Beckerman AP & Thomas GH (2022) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N & Mank JE (2017) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Research group
  • Jasmine Hardie (PhD Student)
  • Robert MacDonald (PhD Student)
  • Shriya Uday (PhD Student)
  • Joey Baxter (PhD Student, co-supervisor)
  • Cole Reynolds (Visiting Researcher)
  • Max Bullock (MRes Student)
Professional activities and memberships

• Associate Editor, Journal of Evolutionary Biology
• Steering Committee Co-Chair, ESEB Special Topic Network 'Integration of Speciation Research'

Links