Susanne Åkesson is a professor of animal ecology in the department of biology at Lund University. Her research focuses on movement ecology, animal navigation and adaptations for long-distance migration in birds and other animals. Topics of particular interest include the evolution of migration routes, migration strategies, sociality and learning, compass orientation and the phenotypic expression of migration programs in birds. Her research also encompasses the effects of anthropogenic threats on animal migrants and the conservation of migratory birds.

In 2008, Åkesson initiated and directed Centre for Animal Movement Research, a centre of excellence on animal movement research Lund University. She is a fellow of the biology class at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, a fellow of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund and a fellow of the Royal Institute for Navigation in London.

In 2019, she received Rosén’s Linnaeus Prize in Zoology from the Royal Physiographical Society in Lund. Åkesson is a subject editor for international scientific journals and a reviewer for funding agencies. She has published several popular science books on birds and regularly appears in national media. In 2009, she received the August Prize for the best non-fiction book in Sweden.