• Module Organiser for Community, Ecosystem and Macro-ecology (BIO-5014B)
• Course Director for the Postgraduate Diploma in Ecology
• Member of BIO Teaching Committee
• Plagiarism Officer in BIO

• B.Sc. - Zoology, University College London
• Ph.D. - Biology, The Natural History Museum, London & University College London (2001)
• NERC Postdoctoral Research Associate, Imperial College London (2001-2002)
• NERC Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sheffield (2003-2006)
• EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sheffield (2006-2007)
• Lecturer in Biodiversity, University of East Anglia (2007-present)

My research interests are in the ecological and evolutionary drivers of biodiversity distribution at different spatial scales from local- to global, and how understanding of pattern and process can inform conservation management.

Current and recent research interests:

Conservation of insects and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Research aims to improve the evidence base informing management of semi-natural habitat on farmland to enhance biodiversity resilience. Current focus is on pollinator and predatory insect communities (hoverflies, bees, wasps) and the impacts of agri-environment schemes including design of field margins and the role of landscape heterogeneity and connectivity.

Woodland / forest management and biodiversity. Research focuses on evidence challenging assumptions about woodland management and the use of woodland by farmland biodiversity. Recent work in collaboration with the Woodland Trust (WT) looks at the use of woodland canopy and understory by wild bee communities on farmland, with a focus on seasonal timing and diversity of resource provision by woodlands, and climate amelioration. Other work supported by WT has focused on understanding natural colonisation processes in the establishment and maintenance of planted woodlands.

Tropical forest ecology. Research has used knowledge of feeding niches and/or functional ecological traits of species to understand whole-assemblage responses to different types and stages of tropical forest land conversion, and implications for ecosystem services. Studies include: the effects of forest disturbance, selective logging, and conversion to oil palm plantation, on termite, ant and bird assemblages (south-east Asia): impacts of forest management and biogeography on termite and dung beetle assemblage structure (pantropical); impact of forest disturbance and fragmentation on termite assemblages (French Guiana).

Functional diversity and ecology of waders on UK estuaries. We have worked with colleagues at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on the functional ecology of wintering wading bird communities across UK estuaries. Further collaborative work has looked at the effect of wader assemblage activity on physical properties and ecosystem services on East Anglian estuaries.

Global environmental drivers of biodiversity distribution, endemism and extinction risk. Collaborative research has used available vertebrate, particularly avian, species distributional range maps, and high-resolution ecological and anthropogenic environmental datasets, to understand macro-ecological patterns of biodiversity distribution and hotspots of conservation vulnerability and extinction risk. Analytical tools and approaches we use include the application of species traits, phylogenetic data, GIS, and spatial statistical methods.

Our group is part of a dynamic research community at UEA including the Organisms and Environment research theme within School of Biological Sciences (https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/school-of-biological-sciences/research/themes/organisms-and-the-environment) and the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (CEEC) which brings together ecologists and conservation biologists from School of Biological Sciences and School of Environmental Sciences.

PhD Positions

Click here for current PhD opportunities in Biological Sciences. But feel free to email me to discuss projects outside these areas and alternative sources of funding.

Postdocs & Fellows 

I am always happy to discuss possibilities for post-doctoral research projects, collaborations and funding applications.

• Community, Ecosystem and Macro-ecology (BIO-5014B)

• Field Ecology (BIO-5013A)

• Science Communication (BIO-3C6Y)

• Skills for Biologists (BIO-4008Y)

• Multivariate Statistics (BIO-7025A)
• Research Project (BIO-6019Y) - dissertation supervision
• Ecology Reseach Project (BIO-6022Y) - dissertation supervision
• Natural Sciences Project (NAT-6001Y) - dissertation supervison (occasional)
• MSc Applied Ecology and Conservation (BIO-7030X) dissertation supervision
• MSci Environmental Sciences (ENV-7026Y) Research Training Project supervision (occasional)