Dr Camille Buhl
Senior Lecturer
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Camille Buhl is a Senior Lecturer in Plant Protection the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide. She combines lab and field experiments with computational biology and field robotics to study insect movement and collective behaviour and its application to agriculture and pest control.
- My Research
- Career
- Publications
- Grants and Funding
- Teaching
- Supervision
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Current research projects - Movement ecology and collective animal behaviour
My research focuses on the ecology and behaviour of animals, in particular how the mechanisms involved at the individual level scale up to groups or population levels. I typically combine lab and field experiments with computational or mathematical modelling, and I am always keen to adapt the latest technological innovations to improve our ability to track and quantify animal behaviour.
Here are some of the current active projects in my team:
Detection, monitoring and tracking of beneficial and pest invertebrates using field robotics, radars and machine learning
We are developing an innovative framework to automate the detection, tracking and monitoring of invertebrates in the field using a combination of machine learning, drones and ground-based platforms (including robotics and innovative radar tracking). In some cases (e.g. locusts, snails, bees), the resulting data will be key to modelling and predicting insect movement. This is a new multidisciplinary collaboration which will capitalise on existing equipment and expertise in AgTech and machine learning at the Plant Accelerator and URAF, the experience of Buhl’s team in monitoring, tracking and modelling invertebrate movement (in collaboration with ECMS, in particular with Ed Green) and the extensive experience of SARDI Entomology working at the forefront of pest management and biosecurity.
Locust collective movement
To develop a better understanding of locust collective movement, we are combining lab and field experiments (which involve innovative techniques such as tracking individuals with a UAV) with computer simulations, which allow us to simulate up to millions of locusts using CUDA (parrallel computation on graphic cards). Ultimately, our goal is to build a model that will provide control operations with a better knowledge of band movement and trajectories so that improved methods such as barrier spraying can be optimized.
Termite nest collective construction
As the pinnacle of animal construction, termite nests embody how much complexity can arise from a multitude of relatively simple behaviour and interactions. Individual termites are small organisms with relatively simple neural systems and limited perceptive abilities, yet they can coordinate their building activity to construct structures up to thousands of times higher than themselves. In the most complex examples, termite nests take the form of complex mounds reaching several meters high, with elaborate ventilation systems and features such as spiralling staircases or suspended bridges. This project aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying the construction of complex termite nests and their evolution by combining collective behaviour, computed tomography, physics and mathematical biology.
Collective nutrition in social insects
Nutrition is at the centre of most collective behaviour phenomena. In social insects such as ants and termites, foraging is handled by a sub-group of workers who not only have to fulfil their own nutritional requirements but also provide the rest of the colony with the nutrients they require. How does the information pertaining to the nutritional state of the colony flows and how do workers adapt their foraging strategies in order to achieve efficient communal nutrition? We will tackle these questions using a combination of lab experiments, tracking nutrients with fluorescent dies and individuals with miniature barcodes, and computer simulations implementing the behaviour and nutritional processes as well as their evolution.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2014 - ongoing Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide 2012 - 2016 ARC Future Fellow University of Sydney 2006 - 2012 Postdoctoral fellow University of Sydney 2005 - 2006 Postdoctoral fellow University of Oxford -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2012 Fellowship ARC Future Fellowship Australian Research Council Australia $652,148 -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review French Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2000 - 2004 Paul Sabatier University France PhD 1999 - 2000 Paul Sabatier University France Master of Research, Biology 1996 - 1999 Louis Pasteur University France Licence+Maitrise of Biology -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Buhl, C., & Simpson, S. J. (2025). Virtual reality rewrites rules of the swarm.. Science, 387(6737), 924-925.
2025 Georgiou, F., Buhl, C., Green, J. E. F., Lamichhane, B., & Thamwattana, N. (2025). Including population and environmental dynamic heterogeneities in continuum models of collective behaviour with applications to locust foraging and group structure. PLOS Computational Biology, 21(4), e1011469.
Europe PMC12024 Weinburd, J., Landsberg, J., Kravtsova, A., Lam, S., Sharma, T., Simpson, S. J., . . . Buhl, C. (2024). Anisotropic interaction and motion states of locusts in a hopper band. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2015), 20232121-1-20232121-10.
Scopus2 Europe PMC12024 Liu, H., Perry, K. D., Lu, T. F., Wu, T., & Buhl, C. (2024). Machine vision solutions for monitoring pest snails in australian no-till cropping fields: An exploration of spectral characteristics and detectability. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 16, 12 pages.
2022 Georgiou, F., Buhl, J., Green, J. E. F., Lamichhane, B., & Thamwattana, N. (2022). Modelling foraging competition between solitarious and gregarious organisms in increasingly heterogeneous environments. Journal of Insect Physiology, 143, 104443.
Scopus4 WoS1 Europe PMC42021 Georgiou, F., Buhl, J., Green, J. E. F., Lamichhane, B., & Thamwattana, N. (2021). Modelling locust foraging: How and why food affects group formation. PLOS Computational Biology, 17(7), e1008353.
Scopus12 WoS4 Europe PMC62021 Georgiou, F., Buhl, J., Green, J. E. F., Lamichhane, B., & Thamwattana, N. (2021). Erratum: Modelling locust foraging: How and why food affects group formation (PLoS Comput Biol (2021) 17: 7 (e1008353) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008353). PLoS Computational Biology, 17(12), e1009695.
Scopus12020 Poissonnier, L., Simpson, S. J., Dussutour, A., & Buhl, J. (2020). Regulation of macronutrient intake in termites: a dietary self-selection experiment.. Journal of insect physiology, 120, 103983.
Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC12020 Georgiou, F., Buhl, J., Green, J. E. F., Lamichhane, B., & Thamwattana, N. (2020). Modelling locust foraging: How and why food affects hopper band formation.
2019 Poissonnier, L. A., Motsch, S., Gautrais, J., Buhl, J., & Dussutour, A. (2019). Experimental investigation of ant traffic under crowded conditions. eLife, 8, e48945-1-e48945-18.
Scopus11 WoS7 Europe PMC32018 Lihoreau, M., Gómez-Moracho, T., Pasquaretta, C., Costa, J., & Buhl, J. (2018). Social nutrition: an emerging field in insect science. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 28, 73-80.
Scopus16 WoS10 Europe PMC52018 Poissonnier, L., Arganda, S., Simpson, S., Dussutour, A., & Buhl, J. (2018). Nutrition in extreme food specialists: an illustration using termites. Functional Ecology, 32(11), 2531-2541.
Scopus15 WoS132018 Poissonnier, L., Lihoreau, M., Gomez-Moracho, T., Dussutour, A., & Buhl, J. (2018). A theoretical exploration of dietary collective medication in social insects. Journal of Insect Physiology, 106(1), 78-87.
Scopus7 WoS5 Europe PMC62017 Cullen, D., Cease, A., Latchininsky, A., Ayali, A., Berry, K., Buhl, J., . . . Rogers, S. (2017). From Molecules to Management: Mechanisms and Consequences of Locust Phase Polyphenism. INSECT EPIGENETICS, 53, 167-285.
Scopus128 WoS802017 Lihoreau, M., Charleston, M., Senior, A., Clissold, F., Raubenheimer, D., Simpson, S., & Buhl, J. (2017). Collective foraging in spatially complex nutritional environments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Science, 372(1727), 20160238-1-20160238-11.
Scopus46 WoS34 Europe PMC242016 Lihoreau, M., Clarke, I., Buhl, J., Sumpter, D., & Simpson, S. (2016). 1ollective selection of food patches in Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219(5), 668-675.
Scopus51 WoS47 Europe PMC352016 Senior, A., Lihoreau, M., Buhl, J., Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2016). Social network analysis and nutritional behavior: an integrated modeling approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(JAN), 18-1-18-10.
Scopus16 WoS11 Europe PMC112016 Dussutour, A., Poissonnier, L. A., Buhl, J., & Simpson, S. J. (2016). Resistance to nutritional stress in ants: When being fat is advantageous. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219(6), 824-833.
Scopus32 WoS27 Europe PMC162016 Hu, F., Escudero, C., Buhl, J., & Simpson, S. (2016). Application of quorum response and information entropy to animal collective motion modeling. Complexity, 21(S1), 584-592.
2016 Senior, A., Lihoreau, M., Charleston, M., Buhl, J., Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2016). Adaptive collective foraging in groups with conflicting nutritional needs. Royal Society Open Science, 3(4), 150638-1-150638-15.
Scopus12 WoS9 Europe PMC82016 Buhl, J., & Rogers, S. (2016). Mechanisms underpinning aggregation and collective movement by insect groups. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 15, 125-130.
Scopus11 WoS10 Europe PMC52015 Herbert-Read, J., Buhl, J., Hu, F., Ward, A., & Sumpter, D. (2015). Initiation and spread of escape waves within animal groups. Royal Society Open Science, 2(4), 1403550-1-140355-11.
Scopus98 WoS76 Europe PMC522015 Romey, W., Smith, A., & Buhl, J. (2015). Flash expansion and the repulsive herd. Animal Behaviour, 110, 171-178.
Scopus11 WoS72015 Dyson, L., Yates, C., Buhl, J., & McKane, A. (2015). Onset of collective motion in locusts is captured by a minimal model. Physical Review E, 92(5), 052708-1-052708-7.
Scopus19 WoS14 Europe PMC132015 Lihoreau, M., Buhl, J., Charleston, M. A., Sword, G. A., Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. J. (2015). Nutritional ecology beyond the individual: a conceptual framework for integrating nutrition and social interactions. Ecology Letters, 18(3), 273-286.
Scopus95 WoS75 Europe PMC582015 Senior, A., Charleston, M., Lihoreau, M., Buhl, J., Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2015). Evolving nutritional strategies in the presence of competition: a geometric agent-based model. PLoS Computational Biology, 11(3), e1004111-1-e1004111-24.
Scopus28 WoS27 Europe PMC152014 Gautrais, J., Buhl, J., Valverde, S., Kuntz, P., & Theraulaz, G. (2014). The role of colony size on tunnel branching morphogenesis in ant nests. PLoS One, 9(10), e109436-1-e109436-11.
Scopus16 WoS14 Europe PMC82014 Lihoreau, M., Buhl, J., Charleston, M., Sword, G., Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2014). Modelling nutrition across organizational levels: from individuals to superorganisms. Journal of Insect Physiology, 69(C), 2-11.
Scopus40 WoS37 Europe PMC222012 Cummings, D., Buhl, J., Lee, R., Simpson, S., & Holmes, S. (2012). Estimating niche width using stable isotopes in the face of habitat variability: a modelling case study in the marine environment. PLoS One, 7(8), e40539-1-e40539-14.
Scopus32 WoS28 Europe PMC92012 Buhl, J., Sword, G., & Simpson, S. (2012). Using field data to test locust migratory band collective movement models. Interface Focus, 2(6), 757-763.
Scopus38 WoS25 Europe PMC222011 Buhl, J., Sword, G., Clissold, F., & Simpson, S. (2011). Group structure in locust migratory bands. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65(2), 265-273.
Scopus47 WoS372011 Hansen, M., Buhl, J., Bazazi, S., Simpson, S., & Sword, G. (2011). Cannibalism in the lifeboat - collective movement in Australian plague locusts. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65(9), 1715-1720.
Scopus39 WoS322010 Escudero, C., Yates, C., Buhl, J., Couzin, I., Erban, R., Kevrekidis, I., & Maini, P. (2010). Ergodic directional switching in mobile insect groups. Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 82(1), 6 pages.
Scopus18 WoS12 Europe PMC52009 Yates, C., Erban, R., Escudero, C., Couzin, I., Buhl, J., Kevrekidis, I., . . . Sumpter, D. (2009). Inherent noise can facilitate coherence in collective swarm motion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(14), 5464-5469.
Scopus246 WoS209 Europe PMC872009 Buhl, J., Hicks, K., Miller, E., Persey, S., Alinvi, O., & Sumpter, D. (2009). Shape and efficiency of wood ant foraging networks. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63(3), 451-460.
Scopus67 WoS622008 Bazazi, S., Buhl, J., Hale, J., Anstey, M., Sword, G., Simpson, S., & Couzin, I. (2008). Collective motion and cannibalism in locust migratory bands. Current Biology, 18(10), 735-739.
Scopus239 WoS182 Europe PMC1022008 Sumpter, D., Buhl, J., Biro, D., & Couzin, I. (2008). Information transfer in moving animal groups. Theory in Biosciences, 127(2), 177-186.
Scopus129 WoS115 Europe PMC702006 Buhl, J., Gautrais, J., Reeves, N., Solé, R. V., Valverde, S., Kuntz, P., & Theraulaz, G. (2006). Topological patterns in street networks of self-organized urban settlements. European Physical Journal B, 49(4), 513-522.
Scopus241 WoS1892006 Buhl, J., Sumpter, D. J. T., Couzin, I. D., Hale, J. J., Despland, E., Miller, E. R., & Simpson, S. J. (2006). From disorder to order in marching locusts. Science, 312(5778), 1402-1406.
Scopus922 WoS747 Europe PMC3772006 Buhl, C., Gautrais, J., Louis Deneubourg, J., Kuntz, P., & Theraulaz, G. (2006). The growth and form of tunnelling networks in ants. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 243(3), 287-298.
Scopus44 WoS39 Europe PMC232005 Buhl, J., Deneubourg, J. L., Grimal, A., & Theraulaz, G. (2005). Self-organized digging activity in ant colonies. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 58(1), 9-17.
Scopus61 WoS542004 Buhl, J., Gautrais, J., Deneubourg, J. L., & Theraulaz, G. (2004). Nest excavation in ants: Group size effects on the size and structure of tunneling networks. Naturwissenschaften, 91(12), 602-606.
Scopus62 WoS53 Europe PMC272004 Buhl, J., Gautrais, J., Solé, R. V., Kuntz, P., Valverde, S., Deneubourg, J. L., & Theraulaz, G. (2004). Efficiency and robustness in ant networks of galleries. European Physical Journal B, 42(1), 123-129.
Scopus118 WoS104- Georgiou, F. H., Lamichhane, B., Thamwattana, N., Buhl, J., & Green, E. (n.d.). A numerical scheme for non-local aggregation with non-linear diffusion and approximations of social potential. ANZIAM Journal, 62, C242-C255.
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2002 Buhl, J., Deneubourg, J. L., & Theraulaz, G. (2002). Self-organized networks of galleries in the ant Messor sancta. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics Vol. 2463 (pp. 163-175). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
DOI Scopus4
External funding
ARC grants
| Program | CIs | Title | Funding | ||
| ARC Discovery Projects |
DP130101670 2013-2016 |
A/Prof Ashley Ward ; A/Prof Mary Myerscough ; Prof Dr Jens Krause ; Dr Camille Buhl | Leadership matters: the emergence of informed leaders and their influence on group movement | $360,000 | |
| ARC Future Fellowship |
FT110100082 2012-2016 |
Dr Camille Buhl | From individuals to mass organisation: aggregation, synchronisation and collective movement in locusts | $652,148 | |
| ARC Linkage Projects |
LP150100479 2015-2018 |
Prof Stephen Simpson ; Prof Edward Holmes ; Dr Camille Buhl ; Prof Kenneth Wilson ; Dr James Woodman | Making Green Guard® greener: enhancing the efficacy of a biopesticide | $385,000 |
Industry grants:
2024-2029. AgriFutures Insect Industry Program of Research: Insect Industry Program of Research (IIPoR); Wilkinson, Kerry Leigh; Pyecroft, Stephen Beresford; Burton, Rachel Anita; Ankeny, Rachel Allyson; Buddle, Emily Anne; Barca, Adele Jade; Loch, Adam; Bless, Ishka Nicole; Buhl, Camille; Cowley, James Morgan; Kern, Stephan. $2,000,000
2023-2027. Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry - AAGI; Taylor, Julian Daniel; Kravchuk, Olena; Shi, Qinfeng; Mitchell, Lewis; Knowling, Matthew James; Abbasnejad, Mohammad Ehsan; Zhang, Wei; Lu, Tien-Fu; Maclean, John; Buhl, Camille; Pagay, Vinay; Preston, Christopher; Roughan, Matthew; Green, John Edward; Binder, Benjamin James; Tindall, Alexis; Able, Jason Alan; Nicholson, Kathleen Granger; White, Martin. $13,700.789
2022-2026. GRDC. More effective control of pest snails in Australian grain crops. Perry, Kym David; Muirhead, Katherine Ann; Shi, Qinfeng; Liu, Huajian; Buhl, Camille; Lu, Tien-Fu; Javaan Chahl; Marian, Romeo; Valerie Caron; Svetlana Micic; Rachel Golledge. 2022-2026.
Internal funding
2021 - Faculty of Sciences Research Roadmap Scheme (lead applicant). Improving detection and monitoring of biosecurity threats using drones, field robots and machine learning. $43,330
2021 - Agrifood and Wine FAME seed grant (lead applicant together with Tien-Fu Lu). A disruptive mobile roboticised tracking systems for pests and beneficial invertebrates. $20,000
2021 - Faculty of ECMS Theme Seed Funding (co-applicant with John Maclean and Ed Green). Predicting and preventing locust swarms with data science. $9,973
- Foundations in Animal Behaviour II: course coordinator and lecturer
- Plant Health III & A: course coordinator and lecturer
- Microbiology and Invertebrate Biology II: lecturer
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Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2019 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Ecological interactions between two natural enemies of the Light Brown Apple Moth Doctor of Philosophy under a Jointly-awarded Degree Agreement with Doctorate Full Time Miss Emma Kate Aspin 2015 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Nutritional Ecology in Social Insects Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Laure-Anne Poissonnier
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2018 - ongoing Member Education Committee Australian Entomological Society Australia
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