Ecological research careers BES undergraduate conference 2014 Cat Morrison Research Ecologist British Trust for Ornithology

The Nunnery, Thetford Established in Charitable research institute. Combine professional and citizen science to provide evidence of change in wildlife populations. Inform the public, policy and decision-makers. Impartiality enables our data and information to be used both by Government and NGO campaigners.

Citizen science at the BTO Over 40,000 volunteer birdwatchers. Long-term datasets some in excess of 50 years: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) – Abundance. Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) – Abundance of waterbirds. Demographic monitoring: Ringing data – > 2000 ringers: Survival and productivity Movements Nest Record Scheme (NRS) – Breeding success

Ecological research at the BTO Ecological change MonitoringWetland & Marine ResearchInternational Research Modelling & Demography Land-use Research DemographyPopulation Ecology and Modelling

My route to the BTO 1999 – 2003:BSc. Zoology

What sort of ecologist do I want to be?

My route to the BTO 1999 – 2003:BSc. in Zoology :Masters in Environmental biology :PhD in understanding population declines in migrant birds now: Research ecologist in modelling and demography unit

Key skills of a BTO research ecologist Enthusiasm Strong analytical skills – SAS, R & GIS Strong fieldwork skills – bird id, ringing Experience of ecological survey design Good time management Communication Collaboration – internal and external Scientific and non-scientific writing skills.

Phenology project Aim: Explore the potential to use ringing data to look at timing of moult. What data is available? What questions can I use these data to answer? 3 months o Scope of these data o What are the relevant questions in the field? How do I analyse these data? What do the results mean? What is the angle of the paper? Presentation to ringers Write paper and get feedback from rest of demography team Submit paper

David Still Ecologists at the BTO Research officer BSc in zoology from University of Glasgow. 3 years at environmental consultancy. At the BTO - working on environmental impacts of renewable energy developments. Breeding Bird Survey national organiser Kate Risely BSc in zoology from University of Nottingham. At the BTO – runs the BBS; maintaining the BBS database, producing the annual report, promoting the scheme, liaising with BBS volunteer surveyors.

Ecologists at the BTO Head of Information Systems Iain Downie PhD in invertebrate ecology from University of Durham. Development officer Bsc Ecology from University of East Anglia At the BTO - contract management and procurement Post-graduate field research, examining dependency of Ghanaian rainforest communities on non-timber forest products. Emily Colman MSc in information technology from University of Glasgow. At the BTO – works on the development of methods to streamline our collection of survey data via the web.

QUESTIONS?