Staff Profile
Dr Jordan Cuff
Research Associate
- Email: jordan.cuff@ncl.ac.uk
- Personal Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jordan-Cuff
I am an ecological entomologist investigating the mechanisms underpinning inter-specific interactions using molecular techniques and nutritional analysis. I am particularly interested in improving our understanding of the mechanisms underlying trophic interactions using multidisciplinary approaches. In September 2023, I will start a NUAcT Fellowship focused on identifying and manipulating the molecular drivers of trophic interactions.
For more information, please visit my Twitter, ResearchGate Publons or LinkedIn.
Brief CV:
- 2023-2028 (forthcoming): Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow, "Increasing efficacy of nature-based solutions for sustainable agriculture by unravelling the molecular mechanisms of prey choice".
- 2021-2023 (current): Newcastle University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Stacking of ecosystem services: mechanisms and interactions for optimal crop protection, pollination enhancement, and productivity (EcoStack)" with Prof Darren Evans, funded by EU H2020.
- 2021: Cardiff University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Metagenomic and metaviromic monitoring of SARS-CoV2 in wastewater" with Prof Peter Kille and Prof Andrew Weightman, funded by Ser Cymru.
- 2020-2021: Cardiff University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Defining a standard operating procedure for portable molecular ecological analyses using nanopore sequencing" with Prof Peter Kille, funded by Global Challenges Research Fund.
- 2016-2020: Cardiff University, PhD, "Nutrient-specific foraging and the role of spiders as biocontrol agents" with Prof William Symondson, Dr Carsten Muller, Dr Ian Vaughan, Dr James Bell and Dr Pablo Orozco-terWengel, funded by BBSRC SWBio DTP.
- 2017-2018: National Museum Wales, Biodiversity Collections Assistant, with Dr Ben Rowson.
- 2015-2016: Cardiff University, MRes Biosciences, "Invertebrate communities of wood decay in beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunks" with Dr Hefin Jones and Prof Lynne Boddy.
- 2011-2014: Cardiff University, BSc Biology.
Other Activities:
- BBSRC People and Talent Strategy Advisory Panel Researcher Subgroup member (2022-present)
- Newcastle University Cross-Faculty Researcher Network co-convenor (2023-present)
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Athena Swan Self Assessment Team Core Group member (2022-present)
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Research Associate Committee Chair (2022)
- Subject Editor, Bulletin of Entomological Research (2022-present)
- Associate Editor, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2021-present)
- Invertebrate Biodiversity Advisor, Frozen Ark (2019-present)
- British Arachnological Society Surveys Coordinator (2020)
- Cardiff Science Café/Innovation in Isolation Coordinator (2016-2020)
Society Memberships:
- Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society
- British Arachnological Society
- British Ecological Society
- Genetics Society
- Verrall Association of Entomologists
My primary research applies state-of-the-art molecular methods to fundamental ecological hypotheses, mostly in applied contexts. I am particularly interested in using these methods to investigate the mechanisms underlying trophic interactions. My broader research encompasses the following fields: molecular ecology, trophic ecology, field entomology, nutritional ecology, community ecology and natural history.
Key research:
Cuff, J.P., Windsor, F.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Kitson, J.J.N. & Evans, D.M. (2022) Overcoming the pitfalls of merging dietary metabarcoding into ecological networks. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 13(3): 545-559.
Cuff, J.P., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Drake, L.E., Vaughan, I.P., Bell, J.R., Orozco-terWengel, P., Müller, C.T. & Symondson, W.O.C. (2022) Density-independent prey choice, taxonomy, life history and web characteristics determine the diet and biocontrol potential of spiders (Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) in cereal crops. Environmental DNA. 4(3): 549-564.
Cuff, J.P., Kitson, J.J.N., Hemprich-Bennett, D., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Browett, S.S., Evans, D.M. (2023). The predator problem and PCR primers in molecular dietary analysis: swamped or silenced; depth or breadth? Molecular Ecology Resources. 23(1): 41-51.
Cuff, J.P., Wilder, S.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Hunt, R., Oluwaseun, S., Morley, P.S., Badell-Grau, R.A., Vaughan, I.P., Bell, J.R., Orozco-terWengel, P., Symondson, W.O.C. & Müller, C.T. (2021) MEDI: Macronutrient Extraction and Determination from invertebrates, a rapid, cheap and streamlined protocol. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 12(4): 593-601.
Tercel, M.P.T.G., Symondson, W.O.C., Cuff, J.P. (2021). The problem of omnivory: a synthesis on omnivory and DNA metabarcoding. Molecular Ecology. 30(10): 2199-2206.
Upcoming preprinted research:
Cuff, J.P., Evans, D.M., Vaughan, I.P., Wilder, S.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Windsor, F.M. (in revision). Networking nutrients: how nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks.
Cuff, J.P., Windsor, F.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Bell, J.R., Symondson, W.O.C., Vaughan, I.P. (in revision). Weather modulates spider trophic interactions: the interactive effects of prey community structure, adaptive web building and prey choice.
Cuff, J.P., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Vaughan, I.P., Drake, L.E., Wilder, S.M., Bell, J.R., Müller, C.T., Orozco-terWengel, P., Symondson, W.O.C. (submitted). Evidence toward in-field life-history-dependent nutrient-specific foraging.
Cuff, J.P., Dighe, S.N., Watson, S.E., Badell-Grau, R.A., Weightman, A.J., Jones, D.L., Kille, P. (submitted). An infoveillance analysis of public interest, national data and wastewater monitoring in Wales, UK.
Drake, L.E., Cuff, J.P., Bedmar Castillo, S., McDonald, R., Symondson, W.O.C., Chadwick, E. (submitted). Otterly delicious: Spatiotemporal variation in the diet of a recovering population of Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) revealed through DNA metabarcoding and morphological analysis of prey remains.
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Articles
- Cuff JP, Kitson JJN, Hemprich-Bennett D, Tercel MPTG, Browett SS, Evans DM. The predator problem and PCR primers in molecular dietary analysis: swamped or silenced; depth or breadth?. Molecular Ecology Resources 2023, 23(1), 41-51.
- Cuff JP, Windsor FM, Tercel MPTG, Bell JR, Symondson WOC, Vaughan IP. Temporal variation in spider trophic interactions is explained by the influence of weather on prey communities, web building and prey choice. Ecography 2023. In Press.
- Drake LE, Cuff JP, Bedmar S, McDonald R, Symondson WOC, Chadwick EA. Otterly delicious: Spatiotemporal variation in the diet of a recovering population of Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) revealed through DNA metabarcoding and morphological analysis of prey remains. Ecology and Evolution 2023, 13(5), e10038.
- Tercel MPTG, Cuff JP. The complex epistemological challenge of data curation in dietary metabarcoding: Comment on “The precautionary principle and dietary DNA metabarcoding: Commonly used abundance thresholds change ecological interpretation” by Littleford-Colquhoun et al. (2022). Molecular Ecology 2022, Epub ahead of print.
- Tercel MPTG, Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Cuff JP, Drake LE, Cole NC, Goder M, Mootoocurpen R, Symondson WOC. DNA metabarcoding reveals introduced species predominate in the diet of a threatened endemic omnivore, Telfair’s skink (Leiolopisma telfairii). Ecology and Evolution 2022, 12(1), e8484.
- Cuff JP, Evans SA, Porteous IA, Quinonez J, Evans DM. Candy-striped spider leaf and habitat preferences for egg deposition. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2022, 24(3), 422-431.
- Tercel MPTG, Symondson WOC, Cuff JP. The problem of omnivory: A synthesis on omnivory and DNA metabarcoding. Molecular Ecology 2021, 30(10), 2199-2206.
- Cuff JP, Windsor FM, Tercel MPTG, Kitson JJN, Evans DM. Overcoming the pitfalls of merging dietary metabarcoding into ecological networks. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 13(3), 545-559.
- Cuff JP, Drake LE, Tercel MPTG, Stockdale JE, Orozco-terWengel P, Bell JR, Vaughan IP, Müller CT, Symondson WOC. Money spider dietary choice in pre- and post-harvest cereal crops using metabarcoding. Ecological Entomology 2021, 46(2), 249-261.
- Cuff JP, Wilder SM, Tercel MPTG, Hunt R, Oluwaseun S, Morley PS, Badell-Grau RA, Vaughan IP, Bell JR, Orozco-terWengel P, Symondson WOC, Müller CT. MEDI: Macronutrient Extraction and Determination from invertebrates, a rapid, cheap and streamlined protocol. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 12(4), 593-601.
- Cuff JP, Aharon S, Armiach Steinpress I, Seifan M, Lubin Y, Gavish-Regev E. It’s all about the zone: spider assemblages in different ecological zones of Levantine caves. Diversity 2021, 13(11), 576.
- Cuff JP, Windsor FM, Gilmartin EC, Boddy L, Jones TH. Influence of European Beech (Fagales: Fagaceae) Rot Hole Habitat Characteristics on Invertebrate Community Structure and Diversity. Journal of Insect Science 2021, 21(5), 7.
- Cuff JP, Müller CT, Gilmartin EC, Boddy L, Jones TH. Home is where the heart rot is: violet click beetle, Limoniscus violaceus (Müller, 1821), habitat attributes and volatiles. Insect Conservation and Diversity 2021, 14(1), 155-162.
- Cuff JP, Tercel MPTG, Drake LE, Vaughan IP, Bell JR, Orozco-terWengel P, Müller CT, Symondson WOC. Density-independent prey choice, taxonomy, life history, and web characteristics determine the diet and biocontrol potential of spiders (Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) in cereal crops. Environmental DNA 2021, (ePub ahead of Print).
- Drake LE, Cuff JP, Young RE, Marchbank AM, Chadwick EA, Symondson WOC. An assessment of minimum sequence copy thresholds for identifying and reducing the prevalence of artefacts in dietary metabarcoding data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 13(3), 694-710.
- Badell-Grau RA, Cuff JP, Kelly BP, Waller-Evans H, Lloyd-Evans E. Investigating the prevalence of reactive online searching in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2020, 22, e19791.
- Ammann L, Moorhouse-Gann R, Cuff JP, Bertrand C, Mestre L, Hidalgo NP, Ellison A, Herzog F, Entling MH, Albrecht M, Symondson WOC. Insights into aphid prey consumption by ladybirds: Optimising field sampling methods and primer design for high throughput sequencing. PLoS ONE 2020, 15(7), e0235054.
- Telfer MG, Cuff JP, Spelda J, Owen C. Neobisium simile (L. Koch, 1873) (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae): a species new to Britain. Arachnology 2020, 18(5), 490-496.
- Bajwa AA, Cuff JP, Imran M, Islam S, Mansha R, Ashraf K, Khan A, Rashid MI, Zahoor MY, Khan WA, Rehman HU, Nadeem A, Orozco-terWengel P, Shehzad W. Assessment of nematodes in Punjab Urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis) population in Kalabagh Game Reserve: development of a DNA barcode approach. European Journal of Wildlife Research 2019, 65, 63.
- Lafage D, Elbrecht V, Cuff JP, Steinke D, Hambäck PA, Erlandsson A. A new primer for metabarcoding of spider gut contents. Environmental DNA 2019, 2(2), 234-243.
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Book Chapter
- Cuff JP. Using DNA metabarcoding to analyse the gut contents of spiders. In: C. Philip Wheater, James R. Bell, Penny A. Cook, ed. Practical Field Ecology: A Project Guide. Wiley, 2020.