Hello!
I'm a Post Doctoral research associated at Durham University, and am currently working with the US Forest Service to investigate the drivers of threatened species richness distributions.
About me
Primarily my research focuses around understanding the drivers of population dynamics both spatially and temporally, with the goal of improving our knowledge on how to implement effective conservation strategies under various scenarios of environmental change. Currently, I am working on a project with the US Forest Service to identify the environmental and anthropogenic correlates of rarity, to develop recommendations for conservation policy.
My PhD research focused on the relative impacts of climate and land use change in determining the recent population trends of trans-Saharan migrant birds across Europe. Through the application of bioclimate-envelope modelling techniques on both species breeding and non-breeding ranges I assessed how habitat suitability in those areas changed over the past 30 years and simulated likely future projections of species abundance and distribution.
Prior to my PhD, I completed a BSc. in Ecology and Conservation from the University of St Andrews where my undergraduate dissertation project focussed on variations in the territory sizes of redshanks (Tringa totanus) and the role of the starvation–predation trade-off, under the supervision of Dr. Will Cresswell.
After finishing my undergraduate I stayed at St Andrews to study for a Masters in Environmental Biology. Under the supervision of Prof. Steve Hubbard, I investigated variations in the survival rates of tropical passerines in Trinidad. I continue to enjoy participating in the project and further analyses on the unique long-term tropical data set.
My PhD research focused on the relative impacts of climate and land use change in determining the recent population trends of trans-Saharan migrant birds across Europe. Through the application of bioclimate-envelope modelling techniques on both species breeding and non-breeding ranges I assessed how habitat suitability in those areas changed over the past 30 years and simulated likely future projections of species abundance and distribution.
Prior to my PhD, I completed a BSc. in Ecology and Conservation from the University of St Andrews where my undergraduate dissertation project focussed on variations in the territory sizes of redshanks (Tringa totanus) and the role of the starvation–predation trade-off, under the supervision of Dr. Will Cresswell.
After finishing my undergraduate I stayed at St Andrews to study for a Masters in Environmental Biology. Under the supervision of Prof. Steve Hubbard, I investigated variations in the survival rates of tropical passerines in Trinidad. I continue to enjoy participating in the project and further analyses on the unique long-term tropical data set.
All images © 2014 Christine Howard
