Doctoral degree in Evolutionary Biology. 2009-2012. BBSRC CASE funded PhD Studentship in partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland based at the University of Glasgow, UK: “Population genetics of the common frog (Rana temporaria) in relation to climate”. Supervised by Dr. Barbara Mable and Dr. Roman Biek.
Master of Science degree (MSci) Zoology, First Class, University of Glasgow. Master’s thesis: “A New Rapid Assessment Technique for Amphibians: Introduction of the Species List Technique from Ecuador.”
1st July 2013-present: Postdoctoral Researcher, European Marine Institute (IUEM), University of Western Brittany (UBO), France. Funding provided by LabexMer (Laboratory for Excellence: A Changing Ocean) “Population genomics and transcriptomics of the reef building worm, Sabellaria alveolata: local adaptation and acclimatisation in a changing climate.” Working in collaboration with Dr. Flavia Nunes and Dr. Stanislas Dubois.
March 2014-present: Affiliate Researcher, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, UK.
September 2012-June 2013: Project Development Officer, Froglife (a national amphibian and reptile conservation charity), UK. This post was responsible for the project development, logistical planning, partner creation, public liaison, budget management, and grant writing for a large amphibian and reptile conservation grant, “Scottish Dragon Finder”.
September 2007-June 2008: Research Station Manager and Project Liason Officer, The Payamino Project, Ecuador. This post was responsible for overseeing the work of The Payamino Project at a remote primary rainforest research station, including assisting visiting researchers and field courses, and liaising with the local community and European stakeholders.
Heritage Lottery Fund grant for Froglife's Scottish Dragon Finder project 2013, £422,400
Genetics Society Training Grant 2011, £900
Royal Geographic Society (with IBG) Postgraduate Research Award 2010, £2000
Glasgow Natural History Society Blodwin Lloyd Binns Bequest Award 2010, £2000
University of Glasgow Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Research Theme Funding 2010, £1000
Scottish Mountaineering Trust Fieldwork Award 2010, £300
Cecilia MacTaggart prize for excellence in Zoology 2009
Co-supervision of two Honours Students’ projects “Biodiversity and the honeycomb worm in Scotland” at the University of Glasgow, UK, May 2014- present.
Supervision of Masters student six-month project “Phenotypic plasticity of the honeycomb worm along a latitudinal gradient” at IUEM, France, January- July 2014.
Co-coordinated and taught on the Masters course “Scientific Writing in English” at IUEM, France 2013-2014.
Co-supervision of honours student project “Pathogens of Scottish frogs: Ranavirus screening and distribution of Saprolegnia water moulds in Rana temporaria” at the University of Glasgow, UK, 2011.
Laboratory demonstrating for zoology, genetics and bioscience ethics at level 2, 3 and 4, 2009-2012.
Supervision of mountain field assistants during 2010 and 2011 field season
RSPB “Managing volunteers” residential course 2009
Herpetology student research team leader, Ecuador 2007
Student Expedition team leader, The Gambia 2006
46th Population Genetics Group (Popgroup) Meeting, Glasgow, UK 2012 (Co-organiser)
Created and organized the 1st Scottish Herpetology Meeting, Glasgow, UK 2011
Two day course “Introduction to GIS”, University of Glasgow, UK 2011
Organiser of the “Evolutionary Analysis” research theme weekly discussion sessions, University of Glasgow, UK 2010-2011
Organiser of the biannual University of Glasgow Herpetology Group Seminars, UK 2009-2012
Member of the Genetics Society 2010-present
Member of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology 2012-present
Molecular Ecology, Plos One, Conservation Genetics, Heredity, Zoology and Amphibia-Reptilia peer reviewer
Workshop for stakeholders involved in the Froglife project “Scottish Dragon Finder”, including national conservation organisations, landowners, and community groups, February 2013
Scottishfrogs.co.uk- Scottish herpetology website and blog communicating research to contributors and end-users 2009-2012
Created and organized the 1st Scottish Herpetology Meeting, supported by the British Herpetology Society, Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK and Glasgow Natural History Society, to communicate research results from across Scotland to end-users, Glasgow 2011
Royal Geographical Society Postgraduate Research Award: End of Project Report, 2012
Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) Lanark Area Member Centre, 1 hour talk “Amphibians in a changing environment”, 2012
British Herpetological Society Annual General Meeting, Natural History Museum, London, 20 minute talk “Conservation implications of a changing climate for the common frog”, 2012
Glasgow Natural History Society (stakeholder), Glasgow, 1 hour talk “Scottish frogs in a changing climate”, 2012
Clyde Amphibian and Reptile Group, Glasgow, 20 minute talk “A changing climate and our local amphibians”, 2010
Connecting schools to the world of science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) Ambassador 2010
Collection of honeycomb reef from across Europe, including Morocco, Spain, Italy, Portugal, France and the UK (three trips) 2013-2014
Remote mountain amphibian sampling in Scotland, UK (two field seasons) 2009-2011
Amphibian diversity research in remote Ecuadorian rainforest (one year) 2007-2008
Expedition leader of student expedition to The Gambia (four months) 2005, 2006
Molecular: genomic DNA extraction, RNA extraction, PCR, construction of microsatellite multiplexes, genotyping.
Bioinformatics and Statistics: R; Galaxy, Stacks, Sequencher, Genemapper, STRUCTURE, MacClade, Arlequin, microchecker, FSTAT, microsatellite analyser, TCS, Collapse, NCBI BLAST, MEGA, GESTE; ArcGIS, Circuitscape, MapSource.
Fieldwork: Wilderness First Aid Certificate, GPS and navigation skills, Mountain Winter Skills Certificate.
Husbandry: larval and adult amphibians, larval and adult honeycomb worms (including artificial fertilisation), algal culture.
Full, clean driving license.
Conversational French and Spanish.