Dr James Buckley

Lecturer in Ecology

2018 –2020: Postdoctoral researcher in Biocommunciation & Ecology group, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
2015 – 2018: Adaptation to a Changing Environment postdoctoral fellowship, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
2011 - 2015:Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded postdoc, University of Glasgow, UK.
2007 - 2011:NERC funded PhD in Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, UK.
2004- 2007:BSc Hons Biology, University of Nottingham, UK.

Member of Royal Society of Biology, Member of British Ecological Society, European Society for Evolutionary Biology and Genetics Society

I am currently programme lead for the BSc Conservation Biology degree.

I am currently teaching on BIOL132 (Ecology and Diversity of Life) and BIOL214 (Ecology), as well as leading introductory statistics modules in the 1st (BIOL119) and 2nd years (BIOL234). I am involved in at least one longer residential field course each year. I also teach ecology-related topics in the Foundation year for several programmes and schools (FYM002 and FYM003).

Climate change is driving shifts in species distributions and reshuffling local communities, yet our understanding of species' responses to such changes is limited. My research focuses on ecological and evolutionary responses to ongoing climate change, and in particular how species might adapt to the predicted shifts in community composition and altered interactions with other organisms. I have worked mostly with plants and invertebrates (and their interactions), and used a range of techniques, including metabolomics, genomics, greenhouse and field experiments, to assess variation in putatively adaptive traits. Through these research efforts, I aim to provide insight into those species most vulnerable to future environmental change.

Relevant projects include:
(1) The rapid evolution of butterfly preferences for different host plants associated with climate-driven range expansions and the potential impacts of this on future adaptive potential (PhD with Prof. Jon Bridle, UCL, UK)
(2) Assessing the potential for alpine plants to adapt to future climate change and particularly the increases in herbivore pressure predicted at higher elevations under warmer temperatures (Postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Consuelo De Moraes, Prof. Mark Mescher, Prof Alex Widmer; ETH Zürich, Switzerland).

In addition to the above research, I also have interests in the role of population structure and mating system variation (variation in levels of inbreeding) on plant interactions with other organisms and their resilience to future environmental change. 
Relevant projects include: 

(1) Population genomics of disease resistance in a wild Brassicaceae plant and the impacts of mating system variation (outcrossing vs inbreeding) on plant-disease interactions (Postdoctoral position with Prof. Barbara Mable, University of Glasgow, UK).

(2) Understanding the resilience of fragmented and isolated oak-dominated temperate rainforest habitats to climate change and associated biotic stressors (e.g. herbivores and pathogens) in collaboration with colleagues and postgraduates across the University of Plymouth