Contact info

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

ECOWind

MERP

FLOWBEC

Research Gate

Google Scholar

Sea Watch Foundation