CV

Skills Summary

Analysis: Statistical Modelling | Spatial Data Analysis | Biologging Data

Software: R | Shiny | QGIS | Git | Google Earth Engine

Writing: Scientific | Technical Reports | Public Communication

Interpersonal: Stakeholder Engagement | Collaboration | Workshop Facilitation

Education

PhD Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, 2019-2023

Dissertation: Understanding the decline of a long-distance migratory bird, The Greenland White-fronted Goose; Supervisors: Prof Stuart Bearhop & Dr Geoff Hilton

MSc Applied Ecology, University of Exeter, 2017-18 (Distinction)

Dissertation: Understating the genetic basis of colour polymorphism in the green peach aphid Myzus persicae

BSc Natural Sciences, University of Durham, 2014-2017 (2:1)

Employment

2025: Flyway Science Officer (Jan 2025 – Now) - My work focuses on priority areas such as addressing illegal and unsustainable taking and trade of birds, conservation of coastal and inland waterbirds, conservation of migrant land birds, and ensuring ecological networks of sites.

2023/24: Conservation Scientist, RSPB (October 2023 – Nov 2024)

  • Carried out research to determine the most cost effective conservation strategies to conserve lowland breeding waders in lowland England.
  • This involved running regional stakeholder workshops to develop realistic region-specific strategies.
  • Created random forest models to predict breeding population responses to habitat improvements.
  • Created spatially-explicit conservation scenarios that predicted change in population sizes and the overall investment required to carry out the strategy.

2022/23: Research Officer, Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (October 2022 – April 2023)

  • Publish work carried out during my PhD in scientific journals.
  • Manage and curate waterfowl tracking data sets, including upload to Movebank. - Write guide to help researchers with the processing and visualisation of animal tracking data in R.

2022: JNCC Consultancy, Review of avoidance rates for collision risk modelling of seabirds (Analyst and report lead author, Jan-Feb 2022.)

  • Review of available literature that measured seabird collisions with turbines.
  • Recalculation of avoidance rates in R and sensitivity analysis to test the effect of various input parameters.
  • Updated avoidance rates were included in a technical report and results explained to marine scientist and wind farm industry stakeholders.

2021: MarPAMM funded project, Isle of Rum Manx Shearwater census (Lead spatial analyst and fieldworker, May-June 2021)

  • Led spatial analysis for the final population estimate; manipulated Sentinel images and digital elevation models to build a predictive spatially explicit model that calculated burrow nesting bird density over the entire colony.
  • Surveyed the Manx Shearwater colony, carrying out habitat and burrow occupancy surveys.

Research skills

Data Analysis

  • Curating large animal tracking database (>250 million data points), including integration with Movebank.
  • Download, manipulation and analysis of remote sensing data, e.g. MODIS, Sentinel, ECMFW and NCEP.
  • Analysing animal movement data, e.g. Hidden Markov models, change point analysis, continuous time movement modelling and habitat selection analysis (RSFs & iSSFs).
  • Statistical analysis including; generalized mixed effects models incorporating spatial/temporal autocorrelation and time to event/survival modelling.
  • Machine learning analysis, e.g. classifying accelerometer data using random forests.
  • Spatial data manipulation and analysis in QGIS and R (using sf package).

Fieldwork

  • Assisted with the capture of large birds and the deployment of tracking devices on waterfowl and seabirds.
  • Organised logistics for teams to catch birds and deploy biologging devices.
  • Fieldwork in remote and challenging environment, e.g. surveys on Isle of Rum and Borneo.

Collaboration

  • Carrying out research with multiple partners, e.g. Wildfowl and wetlands trust, JNCC, BTO & Nature Scot.
  • Engagement with local stakeholders, particularly rural farmers on Islay, Scotland while researching contentious goose management cull

Scientific Communication

Goose News: magazine-style article on the research carried out during my PhD research to a broader non-academic audience.

Funding partner blog posts: multiple blog posts for a funding partner website (Glengoyne distillery), conveying the findings of my research to their customers, example here.

Training

Short course on analysing animal tracking data: exploring movement characteristics, resource selection functions, integrated step selection functions, integrating environmental data.

R shiny course: Building R shiny apps, made app to fit Hidden Markov models to tracking data.

Statistical analysis with R: data manipulation, data visualisation, linear regression, generalised linear models, mixed effects models.

Conferences/Presentations

  • Invited seminar talk: Understanding the decline of the Islay population of Greenland White-fronted Geese. Scottish Goose Forum. Jan 2024.

  • Invited seminar talk: Differing drivers of decline within a metapopulation has implications for future species conservation. University of Lund. October 2022.

  • Talk: Remotely understanding population decline in a high-arctic nesting goose. University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Conservation symposium. March 2021.

  • Poster: Differing demographic drivers of low reproductive success within a high artic migrant meta-population. BOU avian reproduction conference. April 2022.

  • Attended online conferences: BOU Global flyways (2023), BOU birds and people (2021), International biologging symposium (2021)

Teaching

Rewilding field course, Scotland (teaching and logistics): Teaching assistant on MSc field course organising logistics and gave talks to student on my PhD research.

Applications of biologging data (undergraduate practical): Designed material and delivered an undergraduate practical to demonstrate the potential applications of biologging data. Built shiny app that allows users to explore cleaning/preparation of tracking data for analysis.