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

Director of research, School of Natural Sciences

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.

Biography:

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:

Animal Physiology, Behaviour and Conservation

  1. Article › Research › Peer-reviewed
  2. 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, 10

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. 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

  4. Studying the migratory behavior of individual bats: Current techniques and future directions

    Holland, R. & Wikelski, M., 15 Dec 2009, In: Journal of Mammalogy. 90, 6, p. 1324-1329 6 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. 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

  6. The Secret Life of Oilbirds: New Insights into the Movement Ecology of a Unique Avian Frugivore

    Holland, R., Wikelski, M., Kummeth, F. & Bosque, C., 2009, In: PLoS ONE. 4, 12, e8264.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. The bird GPS - long-range navigation in migrants

    Thorup, K. & Holland, R., 15 Nov 2009, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 212, 22, p. 3597-3604 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. 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

  9. Published

    The effect of observing trained conspecifics on the performance and motivation of goldfish, Carassius auratus, in a spatial task

    Blane, J. C. & Holland, R. A., Apr 2024, In: Behavioural Processes. 217, 105021.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. The role of visual landmarks in the avian familiar area map - Commentary

    Holland, R., Jun 2003, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 206, 11, p. 1773-1778 6 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  11. Tracking clock-shifted homing pigeons from familiar release sites

    Bonadona, F., Holland, R., Dall'Antonia, L., Guilford, T. & Benvenuti, S., Jan 2000, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 203, 2, p. 207-212 6 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  12. True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves

    Wikelski, M., Arriero, E., Gagliardo, A., Holland, R. A., Huttunen, M. J., Juvaste, R., Mueller, I., Tertitski, G., Thorup, K., Wild, M., Alanko, M., Bairlein, F., Cherenkov, A., Cameron, A., Flatz, R., Hannila, J., Hueppop, O., Kangasniemi, M., Kranstauber, B., Penttinen, M-L., Safi, K., Semashko, V., Schmid, H. & Wistbacka, R., 24 Nov 2015, In: Scientific Reports. 5, 17061.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  13. Understanding the migratory orientation program of birds: extending laboratory studies to study free flying migrants in a natural setting

    Thorup, K., Holland, R., Tottrup, A. & Wikelski, M., 2010, In: Integrative and Comparative Biology. 50, 3, p. 315-322 8 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  14. Where the Wild things Go

    Holland, R., Thorup, K. & Wikelski, M., 2007, In: Biologist. 54, p. 2-7 6 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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