Professor Richard Holland

Professor in Animal Behaviour / Director of Research

Contact info

Room: 531 Brambell

Email: r.holland@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0)1248 382344

Web: Bangor Animal Navigation Group  Google Scholar Researchgate

 

My research and teaching interests fall broadly in the area of animal behaviour and sensory biology. I am the course co-ordinator for the Zoology with Animal Behaviour degree (C3D3) and teach on several animal behaviour focused modules, as well as ornithology. My research questions focus the cognitive processes and sensory mechanisms by which animals navigate and migrate. While my principle focus is at the level of the whole organism I also incorporate aspects of neurobiology, molecular biology, and physics to identify the  environmental cues, sensory pathways and mechanisms used by animals to decide how, when and where to move. My work also operates in a comparative framework as I compare and contrast across species, taxa, age class, spatial scale and sensory mechanisms to reveal how natural selection has acted to shape navigation behaviour in different animal groups. New avenues my lab is exploring include the impact of artificial light and electromagnetic noise on navigation and spatial cognition, and the impact of antimicrobial resistant bacteria on bird behaviour.

Biography:

2021-2024, Director of Research, School of Natural Sciences

2020-current, Professor in Animal Behaviour

2017-2020, Senior Lecturer, Bangor University

2016-2017, Lecturer, Bangor University

2011-2016, Lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast

2009-2010, Research scientist, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology

2006-2008, Marie Curie Outgoing International fellow, Princeton University and University of Leeds

2002-2005, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Leeds

1999-2002, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Nebraska

1994-1998, DPhil, Oxford University

1990-1993, BSc (Hons), University of Nottingham

Research Area

Zoology

  1. Bats use magnetite to detect the earth's magnetic field

    Holland, R., Kirschvink, J. L., Doak, T. G. & Wikelski, M., 27 Feb 2008, In: PLoS ONE. 3, 2

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  2. Testing the role of sensory systems in the migratory heading of a songbird

    Holland, R., Thorup, K., Gagliardo, A., Bisson, I. A., Knecht, E., Mizrahi, D. & Wikelski, M., 15 Dec 2009, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 212, 24, p. 4065-4071 7 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Navigation: Bat orientation using Earth's magnetic field

    Holland, R., Thorup, K., Vonhof, M. J., Cochran, W. W. & Wikelski, M., 7 Dec 2006, In: Nature. 444, 7120, p. 702 1 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  4. Emergence time and foraging activity in Pallas' mastiff bat, Molossus molossus (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in relation to sunset/sunrise and phase of the moon

    Holland, R. A., Meyer, C. F. J., Kalko, E. K. V., Kays, R. & Wikelski, M., Dec 2011, In: Acta Chiropterologica. 13, 2, p. 399-404 6 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Blind as a bat? The sensory basis of orientation and navigation at night

    Holland, R., 2008, In the neurobiology of Umwelt: how animals perceive the world. Springer, p. 125-139

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

  6. Sensory systems and spatial memory in the fruit bat Rousettus aegyptiacus

    Holland, R., Winter, P. & Waters, D. A., Aug 2005, In: Ethology. 111, 8, p. 715-725 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Short distance phase shifts revisited: tracking clock-shifted homing pigeons (Rock Dove Columba livia) close to the loft

    Holland, R., Bonadonna, F., Dall'antonia, L., Benvenuti, S., De Perera, T. B. & Guilford, T., Jan 2000, In: Ibis. 142, 1, p. 111-118 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. A strong magnetic pulse affects the precision of departure direction of naturally migrating adult but not juvenile birds

    Holland, R. A. & Helm, B., 6 Apr 2013, In: Journal of the Royal Society, Interface. 10, 81, 20121047.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Orientation and navigation in bats: known unknowns or unknown unknowns?

    Holland, R., Mar 2007, In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 61, 5, p. 653-660 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. The effect of familiarity on echolocation in the megachiropteran bat Rousettus aegyptiacus

    Holland, R. & Waters, D. A., 1 Sept 2007, In: Behaviour. 144, 9, p. 1053-1064 12 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review