Address

Room 412

Westbury Mount

School of Ocean Sciences

Bangor University

Isle of Anglesey

LL59 5AB

Email: j.waggitt@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: 01248 388767

Background 

I completed a degree in BSc Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology at the University Of Plymouth in 2009, and then an MRes in Marine Biology at the same institute in 2010. My MRes research focussed on northern gannet Morus bassanus foraging ecology, investigating individual differences in foraging distributions and strategies, and was supervised by Dr Steve Votier. I then completed a PhD in Marine Ecology at the University of Aberdeen in 2015. My PhD research investigated deep-diving seabirds’ use of tidal-stream environments with the aim of understanding potential interactions with tidal stream turbines, and was primarily supervised by Dr Beth Scott. During my PhD I was involved in the NERC funded CORPORATES, FLOWBEC and RESPONSE projects which aim to understand environmental impacts from marine renewable energy installations, and also aid marine spatial planning. I joined the School of Ocean Sciences as a research officer within the NERC funded Marine Ecosystems Research Program (MERP) in June 2015. During this project, I worked alongside Dr Peter Evans and Prof Jan Hiddink to map the distributions of numerous cetacean and seabird species across the North-East Atlantic. I became a lecturer in August 2017.  In addition to my research at the School, I am a scientific advisor to the Sea Watch Foundation. This NGO is dedicated to the conservation of cetaceans. 

Research 

My research focusses on understanding how behavioural and environmental factors influence the distributions of cetaceans and seabirds in space and time. This research is truly multi-disciplinary and involves close collaborations with statisticians, oceanographers and engineers to understand which and how physical processes influence behaviour and movement. This increased understanding can predict spatial and temporal overlap with offshore developments, and responses to climate change - both facilitating effective marine spatial planning. 

External Responsibilities

British Ecological Society (BES) Grant Reviewer.

ICES Biodiversity Working Group.

ICES Marine Mammal Ecology Working Group. 
ICES Joint Cetacean Data Protocol (JDCP) Working Group.

ICES Seabird Working Group.

Sea Watch Foundation Trustee.

Sea Watch Foundation Consultant.

Websites

MERP

FLOWBEC

Research Gate

Google Scholar

Sea Watch Foundation

Course Leader

• MSc Marine Top-Predator Ecology

Module Leader

• OSX3010 Marine Mammal Observation
• OSX4024 Marine Top Predator 1
• OSX4025 Marine Top Predator 2

Modules Taught

• OSX1000 Tutorial 1
• OSX1002 Marine Biology Practical 1
• OSX2002 Marine Physiology and Behaviour
• OSX2003 Marine Biology Practical 2
• OSX2007 Ship-Based Fieldwork
• OSX3000 Dissertation
• OSX3002 Marine Ecosystems and Processes
• OSX3013 Intertidal Field Project
• OSX3015 Overseas Field Course VIMS USA
• OSX3023 Marine Mammal Science
• OSX4004 Environmental Impact Assessment 
• OSX4005 Marine Vertebrates
• OSX4008 Research Design and Planning
• OSX4009 Research Design - Dissertation
• OSX4401 Research Preparation
• OSX4405 Research Project Investigation

PhD Supervision

• Alejandra Vergara Peña (2015-2019)
• Claire Carrington (2021-)
• Sophie Crouch (2021-)
• Clodagh O'Driscoll (2021-2023)
• Tom Gale (2023-)

MRes Supervision

• Rosemary Greensmith (2016-2021)
• Eleanor Falch (2020-2022)
• Rhys Gadd (2021-2023)
• Stef Krafft (2020-)
• Natalie Robinson (2022-)
• Amelia Corvin-Czarnodolski (2023-)

Other Responsibilities

• Summer Internship Coordinator (2021-)
• Postgraduate Research Director (2023-)

2022: HR Wallingford. Collision and Encounter Risk Modelling (PI). £3k.

2022: MORLAIS: Provision of survey, monitoring, and mitigation services for the Morlais Demonstration Zone (Co-I). Joint proposal with University of St Andrews. £650k.

2022: NERC EcoWind. PELAGIO. Physics-to-Ecosystem Level Assessment of Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms (Co-I). Joint proposal with Aberdeen University, MSS, NOC and UHI. £141k.

2022: NERC EcoWind. ACCELERATE. Ecological implications of accelerated seabed mobility around windfarms (Co-I). Joint proposal with NOC and HR Wallingford. £1.5m.

2022: DEFRA. Spatial Modelling and Sensitivity Mapping of Seabirds and Marine Mammals in UK Waters. Joint proposal with BIOSS, BTO,CEH and CREEM (PI). £123000

2022: Marine Scotland. Production of seabird and marine mammal distribution models for the east of Scotland. Joint proposal with CREEM (Co-I). £8000

2022: NERC. SHEAR: The impact of the physical environment on the foraging energetics of shearwaters and the consequences for breeding success (Co-I). £780000

2021. NRW. Boat Survey Work - to complement tagging work of shags on Puffin Island. £2000

2021: INSITE PhD Scholarship Programme. Changes in the distribution and abundance of marine top-predators in the North Sea associated with present and future wind farm developments. £181,069.

2021: NERC-ENVISION PhD DTP. Understanding responses of coastal seabirds to local and daily-scale meteorological variation. ~£85,000

2021: ASSEMBLE Plus through H2020. Going beyond associations: using prey availability to explain seabird habitat-use. Use of facilities at  Institute Of Marine Research (Azores, Portugal).

2021: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Evidence and Research Needs (BEERN) Programme.Understanding critical habitat for Risso’s dolphin. £1000

2021: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Evidence and Research Needs (BEERN) Programme. The development of remote monitoring tools for Atlantic Puffin populations in North Wales. £1000

2020: NIRAS. Seabird Density Maps for R4 Wind Farm Areas. £3928

2020: Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme. Further development of Marine Scotland's Seabird Sensitivity Mapping Tool, for Offshore Wind. Joint proposal with CEH (Co-I). £25000

2020: NRW. Review of population modelling approaches for marine mammals: recommendations for regulatory applications. £26,649

2020: Nova Innovations. Expert advice on the design of marine mammal and bird surveys and baseline data to inform the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Nova's proposed 0.5 MW tidal array in Bardsey Sound. £4675.

2020: Marine Scotland. Production of Cumulative Effects Framework for Key Ecological Receptors. Joint Proposal with CEH. £3567

2020: Eurofleets+ through H2020. Using energy landscapes to explain habitat-use of seabirds (SENERGY). Use of RV Arni Freidrickson at Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Iceland). 

2020: BES Small Grant. Do intermittent meteorological events disrupt the foraging routines of coastal seabirds? £5000

2020: EPSRC SUPERGEN Early Career Research Fund. Going where modern technology cannot: novel adaptions of conventional approaches to record seabird behaviour and fish communities in tidal stream environments. £9246

2020: PRIMaRE Short Research Visit Grant. Development of methods for ecological studies in tidal stream environments. £500

2020: Lundy Field Society Grant. Exploring the relative influence of tidal currents and weather patterns on cetacean presence at Lundy Island, Bristol Channel. £500

2020: Nova Innovations. Provision of expert advice on the dischare of licence conditions for the Shetland Array. £2365

2020: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Evidence and Research Needs (BEERN) Programme. Documenting breeding behaviour on an expanding and understudied colony of seabirds – Middle Mouse, Anglesey. £1000

2020: ASSEMBLE Plus through H2020. Seasonality in seabird associations and responses to oceanography in coastal environments.  Use of facilities at Toralla Marine Science Station (Vigo, Spain).

2019. NERC Highlight Topic. The coherence of ecological stability among ecosystems and across ecological scales. £4552.

2019: Crown Estate. Agreeing density data for use in plan level HRA. Joint proposal with BTO. £1992.

2019: Marine Scotland. Study to examine the impact of climate change on seabird species off the east coast of Scotland and potential implications for environmental assessments. Joint Proposal with CEH. £10612. 

2019: Healthy and Biologically Diverse Seas Evidence Group (HBDSEG). Proposed R&D Projects for MSFD Biodiversity Indicators: Cetaceans. Joint proposal with JNCC. £7800.

2019: Scottish Government. Scottish Waters East Region Regional Sectoral Marine Plan Strategic Ornithology Study (SEANSE). Joint Proposal with CEH. £1416

2019: ASSEMBLE Plus through H2020. Scaling-laws in coastal seabird distributions: understanding the relative influence of tidal and meteorological processes. Use of facilities at Toralla Marine Science Station (Vigo, Spain).

2019: PRIMaRE Short Research Visit Grant. Identifying consistencies in animals' use of tidal stream environments to inform environmental impact assessments. £1200

2019: ASSEMBLE Plus through H2020. Combining Topographical and Current information to identify important foraging habitats for Seabirds across coastal environments. Use of facilities at  Institute Of Marine Research (Azores, Portugal) and Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Naples, Italy). 

2018. Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme. Development of a Seabird Sensitivity Mapping Tool for Scotland. Joint Proposal with CEH. £5000

2018: ASSEMBLE Plus through H2020. Quantifying seabird use of tidal stream environments in the Ria De Vigo, north-western Spain. Use of facilities at Toralla Marine Science Station (Vigo, Spain). 

2015-2018: NERC/DEFRA MERP. Contributed as a Research Officer. 

2011-2015: NERC/DEFRA FLOWBEC. Contributed as a PhD Student.

2011-2015: NERC/DEFRA RESPONSE. Contributed as a PhD Student.