Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Hybrid working considered

Seabird monitoring datasets are often underutilized due to the complex and evolving analytical approaches needed for robust estimation of demographic rates and the analysis of population dynamics. By focussing on refinements of two key demographic rates in seabird ecology – breeding adult survival and juvenile survival, the latter being especially poorly understood – this project will yield important improvements to Population Viability Analyses of seabirds in the context of Offshore Wind Development.

For this post, we are looking for a postdoctoral research assistant who will focus on analyses of existing datasets on Manx Shearwaters and European Storm Petrels to obtain improved estimates of demographic parameters across these species’ north-east Atlantic breeding range.

This project is supervised by Dr Matt Wood (University of Gloucestershire) and Dr Cat Horswill (Institute of Zoology & University College London), part of the wider Procellariform Behaviour and Demography (ProcBe) project with The University of Oxford, the RSPB, and JNCC, funded by The Offshore Wind Evidence and Change programme (OWEC).

About the role

This role presents an excellent opportunity to conduct important applied research with direct impact on nature-positive offshore wind development, and the sustainability of the UK’s internationally important seabird populations. Flight heights and thus collision risk of petrels is poorly understood, so work on this will inform our population approach to the estimation of potential threats to seabird populations.

The successful applicant will liaise with project partners on demographic data collation, carry out cutting-edge analysis, and lead impactful and important scientific papers, supported by an effective supervision team with a strong track record.

Contact details

Please contact Dr Matt Wood ([email protected]) and/or Dr Cat Horswill ([email protected]) for further information or an informal discussion

Key dates

Closing date: 01/02/24

Interview date: 08/02/24

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