Contact info

Location: 304 Environment Centre Wales

Tel: 01248 382318

Website: www.wildliferesearch.co.uk

My research and teaching centres on the fields of animal behaviour, ecology and conservation, with particular focus on the effects of human activities on wildlife, animal cognition and the behavioural ecology of large herbivores. I have studied African elephants over the past two decades, addressing questions on foraging and movement ecology as well as investigating the detailed social and ecological knowledge of elephant family groups and the role of the matriarch. The research that I have conducted on elephant cognition has involved extensive use of acoustic playbacks, whereby animal vocalisations are broadcast to study the responses of elephants to social and ecological threats. More recently, I have applied these playback techniques to understand the effects of anthropogenic noise - a growing source of environmental disturbance - on animal behavior and wildlife ecology. I am also interested in the role that large herbivores play in ecosystem function and structure in natural and human altered habitats. This has led to the development of a project exploring fallow deer behaviour and habitat utilisation in the Elwy Valley, North Wales.