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Latest news on my research activities:
Latest news on my research activities:
30th of June 2020: Tom and Mary Cross Postdoctoral Award
30th of June 2020: Tom and Mary Cross Postdoctoral Award
Today I presented the research I submitted for the inaugural Tom and Mary Cross Postdoctoral Award at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences Virtual Research day. Delighted to have won this award, candidates were asked to submit their paper along with a personal statement. In addition each candidate provided a 5 min pre-recorded ‘elevator pitch’. Great to get the recognition and thank you to the Cross family as well as those on the award committee.
27th of August 2019: New paper published
27th of August 2019: New paper published
Today, our paper entitled "Sampling strategies for species with high breeding-site fidelity: A case study in burrow-nesting seabirds" was published in PLOS ONE.
This is research I carried out during my PhD and demonstrates the efficacy of different sampling designs and efforts when censusing species with high breeding-site fidelity, using the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) as a case study. Manxies were one of my three study species, and like many burrow-nesting seabirds, colony-size estimates for many sites are still not known. This work will aid conservation managers design future censuses and advocate continuous monitoring in years to come.
The work was a collaboration between researchers in the University of Oxford, University of Gloucestershire and University College Cork. As with many studies, a lot of people contributed to this work both in the field and in the office, for which I am very grateful. Check out the paper in the link above as well as the explainer video colleagues in MaREI put together in the embedded tweet.
9th & 10th of July 2019: BES Quantitative & Movement Ecology Meeting, Sheffield
9th & 10th of July 2019: BES Quantitative & Movement Ecology Meeting, Sheffield
This was the first time I've attended one of the British Ecological Society's special interest group meetings. Great insight into new methods and it's always interesting to see the direction these research areas are heading. Spoilers: point process models and continuous time hidden markov models.
As well as catching up with some old friends, and meeting new people, I presented some of the preliminary findings from the seabird-fisheries interactions work I am doing under MarPAMM, have a look at the image of the poster. Need to say a huge thank you to Amy Dozier for the beautiful Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) graphics. No doubt people will be seeing these in most of the presentations I will be giving over the couple of years I work on this project.
8th of June 2019: Cork's SEAFEST
8th of June 2019: Cork's SEAFEST
Seafest came to our doorstep this year. The event is Ireland's largest free family-friendly maritime event, attracting more than 100,000 people to the city. I was there with MaREI, promoting the research we do as well as educating some young minds on what they can do to make a difference. Some good conversations with people from all age groups while at the stand. It was also my first time at one of the events as it always fell when I was busy with fieldwork in previous years, so it was good to have a look around all of the stands.
18th of May 2019: New paper published
18th of May 2019: New paper published
Today, our research paper entitled "Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density" was published in IBIS.
This was the second data chapter of my PhD thesis, combining GPS tracking and passive acoustic monitoring data to understand how effective this method may be in estimating the density of breeding Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). The work was carried out on High Island, a remote island off the west coast of County Galway, Ireland. The findings suggest that the biological component of the soundscape is shaped by the movement of birds within the colony, not local breeding density, thus the method is not suitable for estimating local nest density. It may provide an index of whole-colony size/yearly trends, but long-term study required across species & colonies.
Click the title above to see the paper!
13th to 17th of May 2019: JASCO workshop
13th to 17th of May 2019: JASCO workshop
Part of my work under MarPAMM is to look at the shipping pressure on both Grey and Harbour seals within the programme area. I attended a 4 day JASCO-led "Masterclass in Ocean Acoustics" in NUI Galway this week. Covering many topics in the field of underwater noise. Huge thanks to Eoghan Daly in NUIG for organising this and to the various sponsors. Image: sourced from Eoghan Daly's tweet.
20th of April 2019: New paper published
20th of April 2019: New paper published
Today, our research article "Variation in foraging strategies over a large spatial scale reduces parent–offspring conflict in Manx shearwaters" was published in Animal Behaviour. This work was led by Saskia Wischnewski during her Research Masters in UCC. GPS tracking of Manx shearwaters from High Island, Co Galway and Great Blasket, Co Kerry showed that adults would travel all the way out to the mid-Atlantic to improve their own body condition, but only if their chick is doing well. I spent a good bit of time in the field with Saskia, helping where I could outside of the fieldwork for my own PhD research. Delighted to be involved with this research, it's great to see it published. Check the paper out, link in the title above.
21st of February 2019: PhD Graduation
21st of February 2019: PhD Graduation
Finally I get to wear the floppy had and red robes!
It was good to feel some sort of end to the PhD studies, not many people mention the never ending feeling of putting the thesis together: from handing in the soft copies for the viva -> doing the viva -> submitting the corrections (very minor thankfully!) -> waiting for approval of corrections -> submitting the hardbound copies. I think it really feels like an endpoint when you get that certificate and celebrate with family, friends and colleagues! (Ignoring the manuscripts in review/yet to be submitted). A photo from the day with one of my supervisors (Dr Mark Jessopp)
7th of February 2019: Workshop for NPWS and BirdWatch Ireland staff
7th of February 2019: Workshop for NPWS and BirdWatch Ireland staff
Today I travelled up to Westport in County Mayo (west coast of Ireland) to lead a workshop for NPWS and BirdWatch Ireland staff on methods to census and monitor Ireland's burrow-nesting seabirds.
This was based on the Irish Wildlife Manual I wrote for the NPWS, which synthesised all of the research I carried out during the three years of my PhD, which they funded.
Really good to see the research being put into practice, applied research can be very rewarding.
15th of October 2018: First Post-Doctoral position
15th of October 2018: First Post-Doctoral position
Today was my first day of work as a postdoc in MaREI, UCC. For the next three and a bit years I will be working on the MarPAMM project that is funded by European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
We will be looking at how both seabirds and seals interact with some anthropogenic activities, specifically seabird-fisheries interactions using contemporaneous tracking data and shipping pressures on seals within the programme area. This will feed into the broader aims of MarPAMM which is to develop tools for monitoring and managing a number of protected coastal marine environments in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland. See the project website for more information.
3rd - 6th of September 2018: 14th International Seabird Group Conference, Liverpool
3rd - 6th of September 2018: 14th International Seabird Group Conference, Liverpool
During the 14th Seabird Group conference in Liverpool I presented some of my PhD research. It was great to catch up with everyone, as well as a good opportunity to network as a recently fledged PhD candidate, passing my viva just a week the week before. It was announced at the end of the conference the next conference would be based in University College Cork in 2021. I now know that I will be working in Cork at this time so will be involved in it's organisation.
30th of August 2018: PhD Viva Voce
30th of August 2018: PhD Viva Voce
I successfully 'defended' my PhD today!
I started my PhD in July 2015, entitled "Developing and assessing methods to census and monitor burrow-nesting seabirds in Ireland", straight out of my undergraduate and only 21. Finishing a PhD at 24 is something I am proud of. I went into a Zoology degree knowing I wanted to go on to do ornithological research, something I know is not common but is a result of my father being an ornithologist. I was the first in the department to give a public PhD viva presentation, a great opportunity to showcase the work I carried out during the three years.
This was a great (tiring) day, thank you to Dr Francis Daunt and Dr Fidelma Butler for examining the PhD - and to all of my friends and family for their support.
17th - 24th of July 2018: European storm petrels on Skellig Michael
17th - 24th of July 2018: European storm petrels on Skellig Michael
Together with one of my PhD supervisor (Prof. John Quinn), I secured funding from NPWS to carry out censuses of European storm petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus) on several islands off the south-west coast of Ireland. This employed a team of 5 research assistants and myself to carry out this field intensive work. I spent this week out on Skellig Michael, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the Kerry coast which is home to thousands of breeding seabirds. The site is best-known for it's 6th century monastic settlement, located on the island's summit that can be reached by over 600 stone steps climbing to 714ft. Lots of walking to make up for being desk-bound during the PhD write up!
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