Shinichi Nakagawa


Email: s(-dot-)nakagawa(-at-)unsw(-dot-)edu(-dot-)au

Shinichi is a Professor of  Evolutionary Biology & Synthesis at E&ERC and BEES, UNSW
Totoro poster
I was born in Nagano and brought up in Saitama, Japan. After turning 21, I went to New Zealand to see penguins. I did BSc (Hons) at the University of Waikato, New Zealand (2003) and PhD at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (2007). After a brief postdoc period, I got a job as lecturer at the University of Otago (2008). In 2015, I moved to UNSW, Sydney. I love sleeping a lot during weekends and watching Japanese cartoons.
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Research Interests

My research interests are very diverse but usually fall into three categories: 1) Animal Behaviour, 2) Evolutionary Biology and 3) Applied Statistics. My main model organisms have primarily been birds (sparrows, dunnocks  and penguins), but I have also worked with earthworms, amphipods, frogs and fish (to be honest, I prefer eating, rather than studying, the last model system). Between 2015-2020, our main experimental model was zebrafish in collaboration with Dr Dan Hesselson at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Now, our main system is fruit flies, while our main activity has become literature and data synthesis.

Past Work / Education

I used to study too hard during my days in Japan and I burnt out and wanted to escape. Then, New Zealand seemed to be a great place; they have penguins! Subsequently, I was very fortunate to do my BSc degree with Honours in Psychology and Biology at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ under the supervision of Prof Joe Waas (Biological Sciences) and Prof Mary Foster (Psychology). Joe basically taught me how to write in English (before that I was only able to write in Japanese). During my honour’s time, I did several projects: 1) kin recognition in little penguins on Tiritiri Matagi Island, 2) testing a hormonal assay with Adelie penguins in Antarctica, and 3) studying memory of chickens in a happy lab. Then, I went to the UK to do a PhD at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Prof Ben Hatchwell and Prof Terry Burke (the best supervisor team for a PhD). For my PhD, I have been studying parental care in relation to male ornamentation (the badge of status) in house sparrows on Lundy Island. I carried on working with Lundy sparrows for a year as a postdoc. Then NZ claimed me back in 2008. After 7 years at the University of Otago, I am now at the Evolution & Ecology Research Centre (E&ERC) and the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) at the UNSW, Sydney. 

Current Research / Work

Here at UNSW, Sydney,  I have developed several new lines of research focusing on three areas from evolutionary biological perspectives: 1) the developmental origins of heath and disease (DOHaD), 2) epi-genetics and trans-generational effects, and 3) phenotypic plasticity. We have been continuing to work on meta-analysis and comparative analysis and also on developing associated statistical methods. For a full list of our interests please have a look at the Research page. I also collaborate with many clever people around the world, so I can be as clever as they are (see the collaborations section at the People page).

Other Interests

I like cooking nice food and eating it with nice people (it is even nicer if my mum cooks the food, but she cannot visit me too often). I enjoy holding ‘Temaki’ (do-it-yourself; DIY) sushi parties. Also, I love going to hot springs (shame, there are not many of them in Australia so I miss Japan where there are literally hundreds of onsen almost everywhere). In Sydney, with my two boys and wife, we have been explored the city and the neighbourhoods (e.g zoo, museums, parks). Sometimes, I like vegging out and watching Japanese cartoons – my favourite movie is “My Neighbour Totoro”.

Publications

See the Publications page for the list of my peer-reviewed articles and other contributions.

Editorial Work