Conservation Ecology Group @ Durham University
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Cameron Goodhead

​My research interests broadly centre around tropical ecology, the use of technology in conservation, and rewilding in the UK as an approach to landscape-scale restoration. For my PhD, I am specifically focusing on the interacting effects that rewilding can have on biodiversity, vegetation structural complexity, habitat heterogeneity, and microclimate diversity. There is still currently little empirical evidence for the outcomes and trajectories of rewilding in the UK, despite the recent surge in media and policy attention. My PhD thesis seeks to bridge these knowledge gaps and assist with informing decisions regarding optimal strategies for conservation and restoration in the UK.
A major aspect of my research is the use of remote sensing technology to monitor vegetation changes over time at rewilding sites at a variety of successional stages across the UK. My research places a particular focus on the use of drone-based structure-from-motion photogrammetry and LiDAR to capture landscape changes at high resolution. Using dataloggers, I will also be collecting data on microclimate across rewilding sites, and subsequently use the data to assess the spatial and temporal variation of microclimates for each site. Understanding drivers of microclimate variation is increasingly important in the context of the ongoing climate crisis as it has important implications for species distributions and survival. Given the increasing structural complexity and heterogeneity typical in rewilding, my research will determine whether rewilding can mitigate some of the effects of climate change on species and potentially lead to the establishment of areas of microrefugia. 
 
Previously, I completed a Masters by Research degree at the University of Exeter focusing on the use of drone technology for surveying populations of critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). During my fieldwork, I collaborated with the NGO, Borneo Nature Foundation, and completed surveys in the Sebangau National Park, Central Kalimantan over four months. I have a considerable passion for the use of technology in enhancing our understanding of ecological processes and species distributions, and for enabling practical conservation.

Position: PhD Student

Supervised by: Dr Rebecca Senior, Professor Steve Willis, Professor Philip Stephens

Memberships: Conservation Ecology Group (CEG),
                      
Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Research (BEER) Centre

Contact Details:  Durham University,
                         South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE              
                         Email: c[email protected]
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Education 
2019-2023   MbyRes Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter
2016-2019   BSc Zoology, University of Exeter


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