Overview
As a postgraduate researcher you will join an interdisciplinary group, within the School of Life Sciences, which is well-connected with industry and fellow research institutions worldwide. PhD candidates are encouraged to take an active role in the School's research community in areas currently spanning global change ecology, conservation and animal behaviour and welfare.
We have a large multidisciplinary academic team ready to support you in your studies working across our two groups, Applied Ecology Research Group (AERG) and Behavioural Ecology Research Group. By combining this expertise with wider specialisms we’ve been able to create exciting projects addressing today’s key issues. As a result our research has had real impact on the human-dominated and ‘natural’ landscapes, from furthering scientific understanding to shaping environmental policy and practice.
In the Applied Ecology Research Group our primary focus is to assess, understand and mitigate anthropogenic impacts such as plastic pollution, climate change, invasive species, agriculture and urbanisation, on biodiversity and ecosystem services in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. We use a range of modern tools, including ecological network analysis, ecosystem modelling, satellite tracking and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) along with interdisciplinary techniques, such as combining the disciplines of biology and ecology with molecular biology, biogeochemistry and microbiology.
The Behavioural Ecology Research Group are an active community with core areas of interest currently including animal communication, cognition, social behaviour, and animal welfare. We cover a wide range of study organisms, including mammals, birds, insects, crustaceans, fish and cephalopods. Our research involves fieldwork in many countries and we also carry out work in museums, zoos, and laboratories.
With our wide-ranging expertise we're well-placed to provide the specialist supervision you need for your project, within an inspiring research community that values and involves its postgraduates.
As part of your programme you’ll enjoy formal research training and opportunities to gain experience working with conservation NGOs and others based in Cambridge.
There will be opportunities to present your work and represent us at internal, national and international scientific conferences, and you'll be fully immersed in the groups research activities. We also encourage cross-discipline interaction with other research groups in our University.
In addition to our Biology PhD, we've also identified a range of innovative research project opportunities for you as a postgraduate researcher.
Supervison and Support
We’ll provide high-quality supervision formally and informally, so you can get the most from your programme - and we’ll fully involve you in our calendar of research meetings, seminars and workshops.
Our supervisory staff are recognised experts in their field. Their research expertise includes:
- Dr Alvin Helden - Alvin is interested in the biodiversity of habitats in urban and agricultural areas and in restored ecosystems. He specialises in insects, particularly leafhoppers and other true bugs (Hemiptera).
- Dr Andrew Smith - Andrew’s main areas of expertise are behavioural ecology and primate colour vision. His work looks at how animals, from aardvarks to goldfish, interact with each other and their environment.
- Dr Claudia Wascher - Claudia is experienced in social cognition and physiology, interested in the evolution of cooperation as well as costs and benefits of social behaviour.
- Dr Dannielle Green - Dannielle is an ecologist interested in all aspects of ecology but her main research focus has been on examining how human activities affect the health of individual organisms and the biodiversity and functioning of marine habitats.
- Dr Dawn Hawkins - Dawn has over 20 years’ experience in curriculum development and teaching whole organism biology and statistics in higher education.
- Dr Fabrizio Manco - Fabrizio is an ecologist whose research centres on GIS and spatial analysis in the context of biological studies, including movement ecology (animal tracking), habitat mapping and connectivity (remote sensing) and species distribution modelling.
- Dr Helen Wheeler - Helen is a wildlife ecologist, focused on vertebrate systems in northern, alpine and Arctic environments. Her research is interdisciplinary, exploring both ecological and social aspects of wildlife change.
- Dr Jacob Dunn - Jacob is a behavioural ecologist, broadly interested in the biology and evolution of communication systems in humans and other animals (mostly primates).
- Dr Marian Bond - Marian has over 30 years' experience of working and teaching in animal behaviour and physiotherapy. She’s a fellow of the Society of Biology, a professional dog trainer and a PADI-certified Master Diver.
- Dr Olivia Norfolk - Olivia is n ecologist whose research focuses on the impact of agriculture and urbanisation upon communities and ecosystem services.
- Dr Paty Celis - Paty’s research expertise is in evolutionary biology with a particular focus on behavioural and molecular ecology.
- Dr Peter Brown - Peter’s key area of research is ladybird ecology. He’s joint scheme organiser of the UK Ladybird Survey and co-author of two recent books on ladybirds.
- Dr Philip Pugh - Philip teaches on our BSc (Hons) Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation course. His recent research has centred on Antarctic biogeography, cladistics and multivariate analysis.
- Dr Sarah J Hart - Sarah’s main areas of expertise are in forest entomology & mycology, chemical ecology and animal physiology & behaviour.
- Dr Sophie Mowles - Sophie is a behavioural ecologist whose research focusses on animal communication systems. She is particularly interested in the production of signals in both aggressive interactions and during courtship.
- Dr Thomas Ings - Thomas is an ecologist whose research interests include pollinator behaviour, invertebrate community ecology and conservation. His key aim is to develop an understanding of how community structure is influenced by individual traits, including behaviour.
Your faculty
The Faculty of Science & Engineering is one of the largest of the four faculties at Anglia Ruskin University. Whether you choose to study with us full-time or part-time, on campus or at a distance, there’s an option whatever your level – from a foundation degree, BSc, MSc, PhD or professional doctorate.
Whichever course you pick, you’ll gain the theory and practical skills needed to progress with confidence. Join us and you could find yourself learning in the very latest laboratories or on field trips or work placements with well-known and respected companies. You may even have the opportunity to study abroad.
Everything we do in the faculty has a singular purpose: to provide a world-class environment to create, share and advance knowledge in science, technology and engineering fields. This is key to all of our futures.
My name is Kavisha Prince Anthony, and I always had a dream of studying abroad. Thankfully, that dream came to life since I applied to the Study Advisor. I was able to receive my visa within four days. I also had some visa refusals in the past; I had about six UK visa refusals in the past, but thankfully, it was not an issue since the Study Advisor was able to make things work this time. I highly recommend Study Advisor for your dreams of going abroad, whether it be the UK or any other European country there is.