I am currently advertising for several Ph.D. studentships. Successful applicants would begin in October 2024. Have a look at the project descriptions below and get in touch if you are interested. International students need to make an informal enquiry before 11th December 2023.
1. Combining fieldwork and modelling to understand the migration of the Pied Flycatcher
In this exciting project – which combines fieldwork with cutting edge technology and individual-based models of migratory behaviour – the student will track the migratory journeys and breeding ecology of Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) to develop a modelling framework that simulates the relationship between the migratory behaviour and population dynamics of this long-distance migratory songbird. Vulnerable to impacts across the annual cycle (Nater et al., 2023), Pied Flycatchers provide an ideal system to develop and test models of migratory behaviour, whilst the development of this modelling framework will allow us to explore how climate change impacts individuals and drives population declines. Considering the scale of recent climate and land-use changes across the distributions of migratory songbirds, such models are urgently required.
See here for more details: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/combining-fieldwork-and-modelling-to-understand-the-migration-of-the-pied-flycatcher/?p163546
2. Explaining and predicting the migration ecology of an intra-continental migratory bird
In this project the student will use data on the migratory journeys of common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) from their Latvian breeding grounds to their wintering grounds in the British Isles to develop a modelling framework that simulates the behaviour of this intra-continental migratory species. Whilst this is primarily a modelling project, there will be opportunities for the student to carry out fieldwork at the study sites in Latvia.
Common starlings have flexible migration strategies (Vīgants et al. 2023) – with different populations potentially responding to different environmental pressures – making them an ideal study species to use our modelling approach to explore the drivers of migratory behaviour. Furthermore, because they migrate over relatively short distances, it will be possible to explore how environmental factors influence migratory behaviour at a much finer spatial scale than previously. The resulting migration model, which will build on an existing modelling framework (Howard et al. 2024), will provide a tool to explore how different populations of this species are likely to respond to environmental change. Such models are urgently needed if we are to understand and conserve migratory species in the face of large-scale climate and land-use change.