Current Research Interests:

I currently have ongoing projects in the following areas:

• How do we measure progress towards conservation policy targets? Are our methods for developing indices and indicators fit for purpose? (With a particular focus on Global Biodiversity Framework targets)
• Evaluating protected area effectiveness, in particular at the moment on whether populations in protected areas are more resilient
• Improving species distribution models using paleoecological data
• Understanding the impacts of climate change on Arctic species, specifically at the moment on snowshoe hare-lynx population dynamics, and on the northward shift of beavers in Canada, and the implications of this for local people (in collaboration with Makivik corporation)

I encourage interested students to get in touch on anything related to these topics, or something else if you feel it's thematically similar!

I teach on the BSc in Ecological and Environmental Sciences. The modules I teach significantly on are Conservation Science (ECSC10036) and Data Science in Ecology and Environmental Science (ECSC10038), plus I give guest appearances on Sustainability, Society and Environment (ECSC08010) and Current Issues in Ecology and Enviromental Science (ECSC10037)

I completed my undergrad in Zoology and Ecology at the University of Queensland in 2013, this included a 6 month exchange at The University Centre in Svalbard (A+ time, would recommend to anyone!). After this I did my Honours year, a separate degree in Australia consisting of a 1 year research project, with Richard Fuller, investigating how climate change will impact where migratory shorebirds can breed in the Arctic.

I then spent a couple of years doing contract work with the Australian Antarctic Division, collating biodiversity databases, and assessment how well Antarctic protected areas represent biodiversity.

I then moved to the UK to do my PhD at Cambridge (2016-2020) working with Bill Sutherland, Julia P. G. Jones, Ali Johnston, Jonas Geldman and many other excellent people to develop methods for working with time series data, and evaluating the impact of protected areas on waterbird populations across the globe.

After this I was awarded an 1851 Research Fellowship (note – this was my final option, I’d been rejected by 15 other fellowships!), which I did at The University of Exeter with Regan Early, looking at how paleoecological data can improve species distribution models.

I started as Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation at Edinburgh in September 2023.

Personal academic website

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