CV

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Academic positions

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Insect Conservation, University of Western Sydney        2024-present

Lecturer of Animal Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University                                                2024

Lecturer of Animal Sciences, Writtle University College                                             2022-2024

 

Education

University of York , Department of Biology                                                               2016 – 2021

            PhD student, Department of Biology

Topic: How does individual variation affect group level behaviour in social invertebrates

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University College London                                                                                    2014-2015

MRes Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation (Distinction)

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University of Edinburgh                                                                                         2011-2014

Biological Sciences (Developmental and Cell Biology) (BSc Hons)

 

Awards

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• 2023 -Knowledge Exchange Partnership grant to investigate insect welfare and a circular economy (co-applicant).

• 2023- Knowledge Exchange Partnership grant to develop a non invasive monitoring system for zoo welfare (co-applicant).

• 2022-  Knowledge Exchange partnership grant to investigate edible invertebrates 

• 2018 - Scientific Exploration Society Inspirational Explorer of the Year Award 

• 2018 - University of York Biology KM Scott Prize for Best Student Research Impact

 

Invited lectures (select)

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• Invited speaker to present "Spectacular defences: a colourful synthesis of deimatic behaviour" to University of Bristol (2023) 

• Invited speaker to give the Irene Manton Lecture (2020) Royal Society of Biology and Linnean Society on “Metamorphosis” - a lecture on the study of caterpillars and women in science.

• Lecture at the Royal Geographic Society (2020) “On the Trail of the Titans” (later recorded for Geography Now)  - a lecture on the expedition led to study titan beetles.

• Invited speaker and panellist for the Royal Geographic Society Explore Conference (2019) as a tropical fieldwork expert.

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Expedition leadership

 

• 2019:     Project/expedition leader of the Cash of the Titans. This project based in French Guiana gathered the first behavioural data on the largest beetle in the world, the titan (Titanus giganteus).  

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• 2013:            Expedition leader to the Peruvian Amazon. Planned, organised, secured funding for and led a University of Edinburgh research expedition on the impact of farming methods on local butterfly biodiversity.

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Other work

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• 2022:      Invertebrate Scientist for Operation Wallacea, Fiji.

  • This staff position involved mapping the distribution of one of the rarest butterflies in the world, the Natewa Swallowtail. 

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•  2019-2022:  Research and Analysis Support Officer at TRAFFIC

  • This position involved analysing legal and illegal wildlife trade data.​​

 

•  2016:    Research Assistant at the University of Cambridge and University of Western Sydney

  • Assisted social network analysis of passerines, as well as carrying out fieldwork in Kosciuszko National Park to help investigate defences of the mountain katydid in response to wild Australian magpies.

 

•  2014:      Invertebrate Scientist for Operation Wallacea, Honduras.

  • This staff position involved working in the cloud forest in Cuzuco National Park carrying research into beetle communities. 

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Lecturing Experience

Writtle University College/ ARU Writtle Courses                                                2022-2024

 

Module lead

 

• Ecology and Evolution (level 4)

• Applied Issues in Wildlife Conservation (level 6)

• Habitat Protection and Species Conservation (level 7)

• Wildlife Resources (level 7)

 

Additional classes taught in the following modules

 

• Husbandry (level 4)

•  Ethics of Animal Use (level 4)

•  Animal Ethics and Welfare (level 7)

•  Advanced Animal Health Science (level 6) 

• Current Issues in Animal Science (level 7)

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