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. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. Chapter › Research › Not peer-reviewed
  10. 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

  11. Published

    Orientation and Navigation in Bats

    Holland, R., 2010, Encyclopedia of Animal Behaviour. Academic Press, Vol. 2. p. 177-185 9 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

  12. Article › Research
  13. Published

    Nature’s GPS: how animals use the natural world to perform extraordinary feats of navigation

    Holland, R., 30 Dec 2021, The Conversation.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

  14. Review article › Research › Peer-reviewed
  15. Published

    Over 50 years of behavioural evidence on the magnetic sense in animals: what has been learnt and how?

    Schneider, W., Holland, R. & Lindecke, O., Mar 2023, In: The European Physical Journal Special Topics. 232, 2, p. 269-278 10 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

  16. Published

    Principles and patterns of bat movements: From aerodynamics to ecology

    Voigt, C. C., Frick, W., Holland, R., Holdereid, M., Kerth, G., Mello, M., Plowright, R., Swartz, S. & Yovel, Y., Sept 2017, In: Quarterly Review of Biology. 92, 3, p. 267-287 20 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

  17. True navigation in birds: from quantum physics to global migration

    Holland, R., May 2014, In: Journal of Zoology. 293, 1, p. 1-15

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

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