Ecology
Ecology

Background
We formed the Ecology group in November 2017. It comprises 21 academic members of staff, 12 post-docs and a sizeable cohort of PGR students.
Our group members cover a range of academic roles, including teaching and research, teaching and scholarship, and research. We all share common interests in the natural environment.
Our aims
We have two main aims:
- To conduct excellent research in ecology and deliver societal impact.
- To deliver excellent research-based teaching in ecology to undergraduates and postgraduates.
Key strengths
We have strengths across many areas:
- fundamental and applied researchers with international reputations
- leaders in learning and teaching development
- a strong track record in impact and engagement with stakeholders and policy-makers
We are interdisciplinary, applied, and, in some cases, develop cutting-edge technology. This includes work in complexity science and environmental genomics.
We collaborate with colleagues from across the University, nationally and internationally and our work has societal impacts.
- coral reef ecology
- trophic interactions
- DNA meta-barcoding
- ecosystem services
- deep-sea ecology
- conservation
- animal tracking
- agro-ecology
Using and developing technology
Our research draws on cutting edge technology in several areas. We contribute to novel interpretation and application of these technologies.
They include:
- stable isotope analysis
- acoustic monitoring
- remote seabed mapping
- ecological modelling
- population genetics
- deep-sea imaging
- next-generation sequencing (NGS) to allow environmental genomics and metagenomics approaches
Research Impact
We have a broad outreach and esteem base. This includes:
- membership of government bodies (IFCAs, Defra)
- international journal editing
- Nick Polunin is Chief Editor of Environmental Conservation
- Darren Evans is a Senior Editor of Animal Conservation
- Mark Whittingham until recently was Senior Editor of Journal of Applied Ecology
- international roles (e.g. IPBES roles)
We use this expertise to develop postgraduate researchers and early career research staff. A focus on career development is part of group practice. We are the subject of regular media coverage, including:
- BBC One Show coverage of Richard Bevan’s work on Cheviot Goats
- BBC Blue Planet's use of Alan Jamieson’s underwater equipment and expertise
- widespread coverage of Darren Evans light pollution paper by the BBC and others
A video of Alan Jamieson's discovery of new species in the deep ocean.
Teaching
Our academics deliver teaching across many undergraduate and postgraduate taught degree programmes.
Ecology teaching occurs across subjects in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. These include Biology, Zoology, Environmental Sciences, Marine Biology, Marine Zoology and Animal Sciences.
Teaching methods
As Ecologists we deliver a range of teaching methods.
These include lectures, workshops, seminars, small group tutorials, laboratory practicals and field teaching.
We lead the delivery of freshwater, marine and terrestrial fieldwork.
Field trips - local and overseas
We run field trips in the North East, from our farms, Blyth Marine Station, and the Dove Marine Laboratory. We host UK residential field courses, in Kielder Forest and Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae.
We lead overseas field courses to Bermuda, Crete, Mexico, Portugal, Thailand and South Africa. We also deliver teaching on-board our Research Vessel, The Princess Royal.

Prominent roles
We hold roles as Degree Programme Directors (DPDs) on the following programmes:
- BSc (Hons) Zoology (Richard Bevan)
- BSc (Hons) Biology (Ecology & Conservation) (Richard Bevan)
- Marine Science undergraduate degrees (Ben Wigham)
- BSc (Hons) Environmental Science (Simon Peacock)
- MSc International Marine Environmental Consultancy (Clare Fitzsimmons)
- MSc Ecological Consultancy (John Bythell)
- MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Ecosystem Management (Simon Peacock)

Key positions on examination boards
We also hold roles as Chairs of Board of Examiners:
- Biology and Marine Science undergraduate programmes (Sara Marsham)
- Kirkley Hall foundation degree partnership (Helen Adamson)
- Biology and Marine Science postgraduate taught programmes (Clare Fitzsimmons)
Our teaching and scholarship academics have a key role in the group. They ensure our degree programmes are progressive and linked to current research.

Teaching strategy
We strive to improve our teaching delivery. We continuously consider our teaching strategy in line with School, Faculty and University developments. This enhances the educational experience of all our students.
Sara Marsham is the Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching for the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering. She works closely with our DPDs to represent us on a range of education committees at School, Faculty and University levels.

Publications
You can find all of the Ecology group's publications listed here.
For a link to all our papers click here: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=pjJE3WUAAAAJ&hl=en
Group leader
Professor Mark Whittingham
Professor of Applied Ecology
Email: mark.whittingham@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6599
Researchers
Helen Adamson
Lecturer
Email: helen.adamson@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: 0191 208 6915
Professor Per Berggren
Chair of Marine Megafauna Conservation
Email: per.berggren@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5676
Dr Richard Bevan
Senior Lecturer
Email: richard.bevan@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 8934
Professor John Bythell
Prof of Coral Reef Biology
Email: john.bythell@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6674
Dr Jane Delany
Senior Lecturer/Head of Dove Marine Laboratory
Email: jane.delany@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 191 208 3053 (Dove) OR ++44 191 2226671 (Ridley)
Emeritus Professor Alasdair Edwards
Professor of Coral Reef Ecology
Email: alasdair.edwards@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6898
Professor Darren Evans
Professor of Ecology and Conservation
Email: darren.evans@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)191 2085310
Dr Clare Fitzsimmons
Senior Lecturer
Email: clare.fitzsimmons@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6673
Dr James Guest
ERC Research Fellow
Email: james.guest1@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)191 2083619
Dr Alan Jamieson
Senior Lecturer in Marine Ecology
Email: alan.jamieson@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: na
Dr Sara Marsham
Senior Lecturer (Teaching and Scholarship); Marine Sciences Degree Programme Director
Email: sara.marsham@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5868 (Ridley); +44 (0) 191 208 3056 (Dove)
Dr Simon Peacock
Lecturer in Environmental Science
Email: simon.peacock@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 8332
Professor Nick Polunin
Professor of Marine Environmental Science
Email: nick.polunin@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6675
Dr Gordon Port
Senior Lecturer
Email: gordon.port@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6894
Dr Janet Simkin
Teaching Fellow
Email: janet.simkin@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: 0191 208 7435
Dr Heather Sugden
Lecturer
Email: heather.sugden@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0)191 208 3059 (Dove) or +44(0)191 208 5282 (Ridley)
Professor Mark Whittingham
Professor of Applied Ecology
Email: mark.whittingham@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6599
Dr Benjamin Wigham
Lecturer in Marine Biology
Email: ben.wigham@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7831/3054
Dr Matthew Cobain
Research Associate
Email: matthew.cobain@ncl.ac.uk
Nadheer Fazaa
Research Associate
Dr Richard Francksen
Research Associate
Email: richard.francksen@ncl.ac.uk
Clare Freeman BSc, MSc
Director of Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN)
Dr Adriana Humanes Schumann
Research Associate
Email: adriana.humanes-schumann@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: 9129083619
Dr James Kitson
Research Associate
Email: james.kitson@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6900
Caroline Rhymer
Research Associate
Email: caroline.rhymer@ncl.ac.uk
Dr Fredric Windsor
Research Associate
Email: fredric.windsor@ncl.ac.uk
Dr Liangliang Yang
Research Associate
Email: liangliang.yang@ncl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0)1912085091
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Ibrahim Alfarwi
I am a PhD research student. I am working with Dr Richard Bevan and Dr Chris Redfern on investigating the effect of breeding large gulls on roseate terns in a mixed-species seabird colony.
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Sienaa Al-Zurfi
I am a fourth-year PhD research student working with Dr Gordon Port and Dr Roy Sanderson. I'm investigating the efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi for control of tribolium castaneum and other stored products pests.
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Ellen Barrowclift-Mahon
My MPhil project is looking at the reproductive biology and feeding ecology of two data deficient shark species (Mustelus spp and Squalus spp) caught in artisanal, small-scale elasmobranch (sharks, rays and skates) fisheries in Zanzibar, East Africa.
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Douglas Boyes
I am a NERC-funded PhD student investigating the ecological impacts of artificial light at night on moth communities.
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Nick Brodin
My MPhil research is looking at conservation of the little tern (Sternula albifrons) with particular reference to food provisioning of chicks.
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Justin Byrne
I am a PhD candidate investigating soil microbial decomposer communities, funded by the Woodland Trust. I am interested in unpicking how soil-microbial communities change as woodlands get older.
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Francesca Carr
I am a second year MPhil student studying the Mariana Trench. My project is particularly focused on looking at community structure and the factors influencing this in such an extreme environment.
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Bethany Cowan
I am currently in the write up year of my MPhil, under the supervision of Dr Per Berggren and Dr Richard Bevan. My project is observing the population changes of the seal colony (Halichoerus grypus) over the course of a year at Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, Northumberland.
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Samantha de Silva
My PhD is looking at improving understanding of feeding and digestion in the grey field slug (Deroceras reticulatum (Müller). Slugs feed on plants and this has a significant economic impact on the UK’s agriculture and horticulture industries.
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Georgina Hunt
I am a PhD research student in the School of Natural Environmental Sciences researching long-term changes in coastal fish species off the Northumberland Coast in the northeast of England.
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Matthew Jankowski
I am an MRes student working with Professor Nick Polunin and Dr Clare Fitzsimmons. I work on a project in the St. Marys to Coquet Marine Conservation zone (MCZ) on the Northumberland Coast.
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Liam Lachs
I’m investigating coral adaptation to climate change in the Anthropocene and testing the efficacy of “assisted evolution” as a potential management solution to boost adaptation.
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Izzy Lake
My research focuses on the tropical seagrass species, turtle grass, and how it is impacted by coastal human activities.
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Dimitrios Petsopoulos
I am a first year PhD student. My project will focus on integrating advances in Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) approaches and ecological network analysis. The aim is to understand insect pest-predator interactions within agro-ecosystems.
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Kelsey Potlock
Using passive acoustic monitoring, I am examining the behavioural ecology of odontocetes around an offshore wind farm at Blyth, Northumberland.
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Danielle Robinson
Title of PhD: 'Socio-ecological Indicators for Sustainable Management of Global Marine Biodiversity Conservation using sharks as a model species'
Contact: d.robinson2@newcastle.ac.uk -
Jonathan Savage
I am a second year MPhil student studying the effects of electric fields on shark foraging behaviour.
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Christina Skinner
I am a 3rd year Marine Science PhD student investigating the role that coral reef predators play in linking coral reefs and adjacent marine ecosystems.
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Johanna Weston
My PhD aims to increase our understanding of hadal ecology by focusing on scavenging amphipods.