My research is focussed on population processes, using a range of different approaches. A central interest of mine is in the implications individual behavioural decisions for population-level outcomes. My early research examined this in relation to foraging distributions of brent geese, building depletion models to predict the implications of foraging behaviour for patterns of movement in the geese.
Developing this idea further, I have worked on game-theoretic, individual-based modelling approaches to explore the implications of dominance and competition for foraging performance and distribution in barnacle geese flocks. More recently, I have begun contributing to a project to extend this approach to baboons, in which more complex social constraints are likely to influence forager decisions. I also use more traditional population modelling tools to address applied questions, for example in a series of population viability analyses for goose populations in Scotland.
More recently I have begun to focus this area of research on exploited species, working on theoretical explorations of hunting impacts and supervising an applied field study of chameleon harvesting impacts in Madagascar. This study includes an element of socio-economic research, and I am also developing this interdisciplinary approach to look at the issue of bushmeat exploitation in West and Central Africa. This work is currently focussing the construction of bioeconomic models which can be used to provide simple sustainability indicators for the field and explore the effectiveness of policy tools.
- Website
- Article Feed
- Joined
