My research explores the interactions of food (prey) quality and quantity on consumer dynamics and thence on trophic dynamics (stoichiometric ecology) and biogeochemistry. Targets for this work are primarily planktonic and microbial systems, with recent emphasis upon mixotrophic plankton and variations in predation rates with prey size, abundance and nutritional quality. Applied aspects include optimisation of algal biomass production in the presence of zooplanktonic pests, and microbial activity in wetlands.
I have also experienced life on the other side of academia as Managing Editor of the Journal of Plankton Research (OUP), as climate research consultant for the Welsh Local Government Association, as Biodiversity Officer for Bridgend County Borough Council, and as a British Science Association Media Fellow with BBC Countryfile.
Yuva Rattan, India