We seek to solve critical issues in the spatial ecology of pelagic seabirds, apex predators of earth’s greatest and least under understood ecosystem, the marine environment. Utilising and developing miniature bio-logging technology, coupled with advanced computational analysis, my research group (oxnav.org) tackles fundamental questions of behaviour, ecology, and conservation in a range of auks and procellariiforms that breed off Britain and around the world, many of which are threatened or endangered by climate change and other anthropogenic influences. The student would engage in field-research on remote island breeding colonies, using state-of-the-art on-board telemetry systems, and advanced analytical techniques. Potential topics include emerging querstions in the mechanisms of seabird migration, natal philopatry, navigation, the drivers of at-sea distributions including the effects of changing climate, life-history strategies including carry-over effects around the migratory cycle, and the implications of potential human-seabird conflict through fisheries by-catch and off-shore wind impacts. The exact topic will be strongly influenced by the student’s interests and by the questions emerging from the most recent research discoveries.
Qualifications & Experiences
DPhil in Zoology. >25 years teaching and supervisory experience.
