Role
Post-doctoral Research Fellow (Leverhulme)
Qualifications & background
PhD The Molecular and behavioural ecology of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in agricultural land, University of Plymouth, 2011
MSc Environmental Conservation Management (Distinction), University of Glamorgan, 2006
BSc Biological Sciences (2:1), University of Reading, 2005
Professional membership
Royal Entomological Society, Soil Ecology Society, Systematics Association
Teaching interests
I demonstrate on first year undergraduate statistics and natural history modules and provide support for field trips
Research interests
I am currently working with Professor Rod Blackshaw on a Leverhulme funded project on modelling insect trapping systems. I collect and analyse experimental field data from pitfall, sex pheromone and light traps and carry out field and laboratory studies on individual movement. Together with theoretical approaches using mathematical modelling, it is hoped we can obtain better information from insect trap count data, ultimately leading to more accurate ecological studies and succesful conservation and pest management stategies.
I am also interested in the use molecular techniques (T-RFLP, AFLPs, and sequencing of 16S rRNA) and behavioural methods (insect tracking using specialist laboratory equipment) to answer questions related to insect ecology, particularly focusing on the spatial distribution, dispersal, species relationships and phylogeography of agricultural insect pest species.
