Professor Richard Holland
Professor in Animal Behaviour / Director of Research
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
- E-pub ahead of print
A refined magnetic pulse treatment method for magnetic navigation experiments with adequate sham control: a case study on free-flying songbirds
Karwinkel, T., Winklhofer, M., Allenstein, D., Burst, V., Christoph, P., Holland, R., Huppop, O., Steen, J., Bairlein, F. & Schamaljohann, H., 15 May 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of the Royal Society: Interface. 21, 214Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Navigation by extrapolation of geomagnetic cues in a migratory songbird
Kishkinev, D., Packmor, F., Thomas, Z., Hans, W., Mouritsen, H., Chernetsov, N. & Holland, R., 12 Apr 2021, In: Current Biology. 31, 7, p. 1563-1569Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Anosmic migrating songbirds demonstrate a compensatory response following long-distance translocation: a radio-tracking study
Kishkinev, D., Anashina, A., Ishchenko, I. & Holland, R. A., Jan 2020, In: Journal of Ornithology. 161, 1, p. 47-57Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat
Lindecke, O., Voigt, C. C., Petersons, G. & Holland, R., 16 Sept 2015, In: Biology Letters. 11, 9, p. 1-4Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Experienced migratory bats integrate the sun's position at dusk for navigation at night
Lindecke, O., Elksne, A., Holland, R. A., Petersons, G. & Voigt, C. C., 22 Apr 2019, In: Current Biology. 29, p. 1369-1373Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Orientation and flight behaviour identify the Soprano pipistrelle as a migratory bat species at the Baltic Sea coast
Lindecke, O., Elksne, A., Holland, R., Petersons, G. & Voigt, C. C., 1 May 2019, In: Journal of Zoology. 308, 1, p. 56-65Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Corneal sensitivity is required for orientation in free-flying migratory bats
Lindecke, O., Holland, R., Petersons, G. & Voigt, C. C., 5 May 2021, In: Communications Biology. 4, 1, 522.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Place versus response learning in fish: a comparison between species
McAroe, C. L., Craig, C. M. & Holland, R., Jan 2016, In: Animal Cognition. 19, 1, p. 153-161Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Shoaling promotes place over response learning but does not facilitate individual learning of that strategy in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
McAroe, C. L., Craig, C. M. & Holland, R., 2017, In: BMC Zoology. 2, 10Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
A comparison of machine-learning assisted optical and thermal camera systems for beehive activity counting
Morton Williams, S., Bariselli, S., Palego, C., Holland, R. & Cross, P., 1 Dec 2022, In: Smart Agricultural Technology. 2, 100038.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review