- B.Sc. (Bristol)
- Ph.D. (Birmingham)
Research Interests:
I am interested in the energetics and behaviour
of a range of animals (but mainly birds) and how this integrates
with their ecology. My current research is based on the polar regions,
and has evolved from past work on the physiology of birds. Indeed
I still use some of these techniques (respirometry for example)
in order to calibrate my field method, the use of recorded heart
rate to measure the field metabolic rates of free birds. I have
designed and developed a range of implantable data loggers that
allowed year round recording of heart rate and temperature. These
were used to study the physiology, energetics and behaviour of seals,
penguins and albatross in their natural Antarctic environment. Along
with back mounted satellite transmitters (that allow us to track
the position of the birds), it has also been possible to use recorded
heart rate to estimate the energetic demands on the barnacle goose
both during breeding and as it migrates from Svalbard (in the high
arctic) to Scotland. A new design of logger with larger memory (now
at 64Mbytes), lower power consumption and with pressure and multiple
temperature capability has now been applied to a wide range of animals
including penguins, eiders, geese and marine iguanas. Current developments
include a unit for recording the 3 dimensional movement of a diving
penguin (to be deployed on King penguins end 2002) and a GPS based
tracking logger (mid 2003).
