The University of Aberdeen recently held it's annual competition, Images of Research, where entrants are asked to "represent your research in a single image together with a 100-word description." This is a great challenge for researchers often working on complex, niche subjects, but a useful opportunity to distill a multi-year project down into an accessible summary. I'm pleased to say that my entry was Highly Commended by the judges, so I'll share it with you here as food for thought.
You can view the other entries and winners here.
If we all ordered the same meal at the same restaurant day after day, chaos would quickly ensue. If you’re not the quickest or strongest, how would you compete for your spot at the table? Competition in animal communities can force individuals to diversify their diet by eating elsewhere or eating something different altogether. But this is only possible if other options are available. By investigating how competition and habitat diversity interact to influence seabird diet and feeding behaviour, we can better understand ecological and evolutionary processes which determine whether both individuals and populations thrive or survive.