Professor Richard Holland
Professor in Animal Behaviour / Director of Research
![](https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/files/52215907/Portrait.jpg)
Affiliations
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
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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 journal › Article › peer-review
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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 journal › Article › peer-review
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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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 220-230Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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, 22Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Grouping promotes risk-taking in unfamiliar settings
Kareklas, K., Elwood, R. W. & Holland, R. A., 1 Mar 2018, In: Behavioural Processes. 148, p. 41-45Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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. 127-135Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review
- 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 journal › Article › peer-review