Ecological research careers BES undergraduate
Description: Ecological research careers BES undergraduate conference 2014 Cat Morrison Research Ecologist British Trust for Ornithology The Nunnery, Thetford Established in 1933. Charitable research institute. Combine professional and citizen science
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slide1. Ecological research careers
BES undergraduate conference 2014 Cat Morrison
Research Ecologist
British Trust for Ornithology<br>
slide2. The Nunnery, Thetford Established in 1933. Charitable research institute. Combine professional and citizen science to provide evidence of change in wildlife populations. Inform the public, policy and decision-makers. Impartiality enables our data and information to be used both by Government and NGO campaigners.<br>
slide3. Citizen science at the BTO Over 40,000 volunteer birdwatchers. Long-term datasets some in excess of 50 years: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) – Abundance. Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) – Abundance of waterbirds. Demographic monitoring: Ringing data – > 2000 ringers: Survival and productivity Movements Nest Record Scheme (NRS) – Breeding success<br>
slide4. Ecological research at the BTO Ecological change Monitoring Wetland & Marine Research International Research Modelling & Demography Land-use Research Demography Population Ecology and Modelling<br>
slide5. My route to the BTO 1999 – 2003: BSc. Zoology<br>
slide6. What sort of ecologist do I want to be?<br>
slide7. My route to the BTO 1999 – 2003: BSc. in Zoology 2005 - 2006: Masters in Environmental biology 2007 - 2011: PhD in understanding population declines in migrant birds 2012 - now: Research ecologist in modelling and demography unit<br>
slide8. Key skills of a BTO research ecologist Enthusiasm Strong analytical skills – SAS, R & GIS Strong fieldwork skills – bird id, ringing Experience of ecological survey design Good time management Communication Collaboration – internal and external Scientific and non-scientific writing skills.<br>
slide9. Phenology project Aim: Explore the potential to use ringing data to look at timing of moult. What data is available? What questions can I use these data to answer? 3 months Scope of these data What are the relevant questions in the field? How do I analyse these data? What do the results mean? What is the angle of the paper? Presentation to ringers Write paper and get feedback from rest of demography team Submit paper<br>
slide10. David Still Ecologists at the BTO Research officer BSc in zoology from University of Glasgow. 3 years at environmental consultancy. At the BTO - working on environmental impacts of renewable energy developments. Breeding Bird Survey national organiser Kate Risely BSc in zoology from University of Nottingham. At the BTO – runs the BBS;
maintaining the BBS database,
producing the annual report,
promoting the scheme,
liaising with BBS volunteer surveyors.<br>
slide11. Ecologists at the BTO Head of Information Systems Iain Downie PhD in invertebrate ecology from University of Durham. Development officer Bsc Ecology from University of East Anglia At the BTO - contract management and procurement Post-graduate field research, examining dependency of Ghanaian rainforest communities on non-timber forest products. Emily Colman MSc in information technology from University of Glasgow. At the BTO – works on the development of methods to streamline our collection of survey data via the web.<br>
slide12. QUESTIONS?<br>
BES undergraduate conference 2014 Cat Morrison
Research Ecologist
British Trust for Ornithology<br>
slide2. The Nunnery, Thetford Established in 1933. Charitable research institute. Combine professional and citizen science to provide evidence of change in wildlife populations. Inform the public, policy and decision-makers. Impartiality enables our data and information to be used both by Government and NGO campaigners.<br>
slide3. Citizen science at the BTO Over 40,000 volunteer birdwatchers. Long-term datasets some in excess of 50 years: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) – Abundance. Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) – Abundance of waterbirds. Demographic monitoring: Ringing data – > 2000 ringers: Survival and productivity Movements Nest Record Scheme (NRS) – Breeding success<br>
slide4. Ecological research at the BTO Ecological change Monitoring Wetland & Marine Research International Research Modelling & Demography Land-use Research Demography Population Ecology and Modelling<br>
slide5. My route to the BTO 1999 – 2003: BSc. Zoology<br>
slide6. What sort of ecologist do I want to be?<br>
slide7. My route to the BTO 1999 – 2003: BSc. in Zoology 2005 - 2006: Masters in Environmental biology 2007 - 2011: PhD in understanding population declines in migrant birds 2012 - now: Research ecologist in modelling and demography unit<br>
slide8. Key skills of a BTO research ecologist Enthusiasm Strong analytical skills – SAS, R & GIS Strong fieldwork skills – bird id, ringing Experience of ecological survey design Good time management Communication Collaboration – internal and external Scientific and non-scientific writing skills.<br>
slide9. Phenology project Aim: Explore the potential to use ringing data to look at timing of moult. What data is available? What questions can I use these data to answer? 3 months Scope of these data What are the relevant questions in the field? How do I analyse these data? What do the results mean? What is the angle of the paper? Presentation to ringers Write paper and get feedback from rest of demography team Submit paper<br>
slide10. David Still Ecologists at the BTO Research officer BSc in zoology from University of Glasgow. 3 years at environmental consultancy. At the BTO - working on environmental impacts of renewable energy developments. Breeding Bird Survey national organiser Kate Risely BSc in zoology from University of Nottingham. At the BTO – runs the BBS;
maintaining the BBS database,
producing the annual report,
promoting the scheme,
liaising with BBS volunteer surveyors.<br>
slide11. Ecologists at the BTO Head of Information Systems Iain Downie PhD in invertebrate ecology from University of Durham. Development officer Bsc Ecology from University of East Anglia At the BTO - contract management and procurement Post-graduate field research, examining dependency of Ghanaian rainforest communities on non-timber forest products. Emily Colman MSc in information technology from University of Glasgow. At the BTO – works on the development of methods to streamline our collection of survey data via the web.<br>
slide12. QUESTIONS?<br>