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. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. Published

    Satellite tracking of red-listed nominate lesser black-backed gulls (Larus f. fuscus): habitat specialisation in foraging movements raises novel conservation needs

    Juvaste, R., Arriero, E., Gagliardo, A., Holland, R., Huttunen, M. J., Mueller, I., Thorup, K., Wikelski, M., Penttinen, M-L., Hannila, J. & Wistbacka, R., Apr 2017, In: Global Ecology and Conservation. 10, p. 220-230

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Published

    Plasticity varies with boldness in a weakly-electric fish

    Kareklas, K., Arnott, G., Elwood, R. W. & Holland, R., 6 Jun 2016, In: Frontiers in Zoology. 13, 22

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  6. Published

    Grouping promotes risk-taking in unfamiliar settings

    Kareklas, K., Elwood, R. W. & Holland, R. A., 1 Mar 2018, In: Behavioural Processes. 148, p. 41-45

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Published

    Relationships between personality and lateralisation of sensory inputs

    Kareklas, K., Elwood, R. W., Arnott, G. & Holland, R., Jul 2018, In: Animal Behaviour. 141, p. 127-135

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Published

    Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide 1 and more likely to split

    Kareklas, K., Elwood, R. W. & Holland, R., 2018, In: Biology Open. 2018, 7, bio033613.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Personality effects on spatial learning: comparisons between visual conditions in a weakly-electric fish

    Kareklas, K., Elwood, R. W. & Holland, R., 2017, In: Ethology.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. E-pub ahead of print

    A conceptual framework on the role of magnetic cues in songbird migration ecology

    Karwinkel, T., Peter, A., Holland, R., Thorup, K., Bairlein, F. & Schmaljohann, H., 17 Apr 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Biological Reviews.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review