Each year I host 1-2 Master's student projects. This year I have four projects: please get in touch if you're a Master's student who would be interested in taking on one of the projects below.
Determinants of distribution change in British fauna
Supervisors: Gary Powney, Nick Isaac
The recent State of Nature Report highlighted large-scale changes in UK Biodiversity, with a majority of species in decline. Understanding the mechanisms that drive species range change is vital for conservation efforts. Species traits are a powerful tool for explaining this variation, e.g. habitat specialism and dispersal limitation have been implicated as factors promoting vulnerability. During this project the student will use trait-based analyses to examine the drivers of distribution change in a selection of British taxa (fish, spiders, beetles and other insects). The student will carry out a literature search to compile trait data, while distribution data will be taken from the Biological Records Centre (BRC). The project will shed light on the key drivers of species distribution change in Britain, and will highlight trait characteristics that predispose species to extinction risk during times of environmental change. This project is aimed at someone who is interested in the macroecology and conservation of biodiversity in Britain.
Examining the effectiveness of the protected area network in Britain
Supervisors: Gary Powney, Tom August & Nick Isaac
It is widely accepted that protected areas are vital for the conservation of species and ecosystems. However, there are relatively few studies that test the effectiveness of protected areas at preventing biodiversity loss during times of environmental change. The student will investigate the performance of protected areas in Britain by examining species’ population trends inside and outside of protected areas. The study will cover a wide variety of taxonomic groups using data from the Biological Records Centre (BRC) and state of the art techniques developed at BRC for modelling distributional change. This project will suit a numerate student that has an interest in assisting conservation efforts by using macroecological techniques.
Shortcuts to estimating insect abundance
Supervisor: Nick Isaac
Butterfly transects have provided a rich source of data on trends in the distribution and abundance of native species, and have been influential in setting biodiversity policy. However, they are time-consuming and require large numbers of dedicated volunteers with natural history skills, as such transect schemes have not been successfully established for other insect groups. Ecologists therefore seek new methods for estimating the abundance of insect populations with less effort. This project will explore whether the times at which species are observed contains enough information to be used as a proxy for overall abundance. To do this, the student will conduct fieldwork on existing butterfly transects and collect data on the time at which individual observations are made. This project would suit a student with entomological experience and a solid grasp of basic statistics.
Spatial variation in mammal ecology
Supervisors: Nick Isaac & Tom August
Species traits have delivered valuable insights into the rarity and extinction risk of species, however, many species’ traits vary markedly among populations within species. Recently, biologists have realised this variation represents meaningful signal, rather than noise. For example, variability in life-history traits has been shown to provide a buffer against extinction. This project will build on a large dataset of life-history and ecological data for mammals (YouTHERIA), use the primary literature to georeference the data and derive spatially explicit models of variation in life-history traits within species. This project would suit a student with interest in mammals and macroecology.
Determinants of distribution change in British fauna
Supervisors: Gary Powney, Nick Isaac
The recent State of Nature Report highlighted large-scale changes in UK Biodiversity, with a majority of species in decline. Understanding the mechanisms that drive species range change is vital for conservation efforts. Species traits are a powerful tool for explaining this variation, e.g. habitat specialism and dispersal limitation have been implicated as factors promoting vulnerability. During this project the student will use trait-based analyses to examine the drivers of distribution change in a selection of British taxa (fish, spiders, beetles and other insects). The student will carry out a literature search to compile trait data, while distribution data will be taken from the Biological Records Centre (BRC). The project will shed light on the key drivers of species distribution change in Britain, and will highlight trait characteristics that predispose species to extinction risk during times of environmental change. This project is aimed at someone who is interested in the macroecology and conservation of biodiversity in Britain.
Examining the effectiveness of the protected area network in Britain
Supervisors: Gary Powney, Tom August & Nick Isaac
It is widely accepted that protected areas are vital for the conservation of species and ecosystems. However, there are relatively few studies that test the effectiveness of protected areas at preventing biodiversity loss during times of environmental change. The student will investigate the performance of protected areas in Britain by examining species’ population trends inside and outside of protected areas. The study will cover a wide variety of taxonomic groups using data from the Biological Records Centre (BRC) and state of the art techniques developed at BRC for modelling distributional change. This project will suit a numerate student that has an interest in assisting conservation efforts by using macroecological techniques.
Shortcuts to estimating insect abundance
Supervisor: Nick Isaac
Butterfly transects have provided a rich source of data on trends in the distribution and abundance of native species, and have been influential in setting biodiversity policy. However, they are time-consuming and require large numbers of dedicated volunteers with natural history skills, as such transect schemes have not been successfully established for other insect groups. Ecologists therefore seek new methods for estimating the abundance of insect populations with less effort. This project will explore whether the times at which species are observed contains enough information to be used as a proxy for overall abundance. To do this, the student will conduct fieldwork on existing butterfly transects and collect data on the time at which individual observations are made. This project would suit a student with entomological experience and a solid grasp of basic statistics.
Spatial variation in mammal ecology
Supervisors: Nick Isaac & Tom August
Species traits have delivered valuable insights into the rarity and extinction risk of species, however, many species’ traits vary markedly among populations within species. Recently, biologists have realised this variation represents meaningful signal, rather than noise. For example, variability in life-history traits has been shown to provide a buffer against extinction. This project will build on a large dataset of life-history and ecological data for mammals (YouTHERIA), use the primary literature to georeference the data and derive spatially explicit models of variation in life-history traits within species. This project would suit a student with interest in mammals and macroecology.