Patrick White
Patrick White

Dr Patrick White FCIEEM FHEA

Associate Professor

 0131 455 2509

  P.White@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

Within the Centre for Conservation & Restoration Science I do research that has practical applications for conservation of threatened species and for the wider profession of ecology and environmental management. I have a wide range of interests and I apply a variety of research techniques, including observational studies, experimental work and modelling.

I have carried out applied research for a range of avian and mammalian taxa including passerines, grouse, geese, waders, otters, ibex and badgers. I am also interested in use of technologies for wildlife biology, developing evidence-based approaches for their use and inter-disciplinary partnerships to develop novel approaches for ecological monitoring.

In 2023 I was appointed Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (FCIEEM). I am also a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group. I am on the Editorial Board for CIEEM’s quarterly publication ‘In Practice’ and a Subject Editor for the Wildlife Biology journal.

I am Programme Leader for Napier's CIEEM-accredited MSc Wildlife Biology & Conservation where my teaching is led by my research, contributing to the areas of statistics and modelling, applied ecology, biodiversity monitoring and analysis, as well as field surveying techniques and technologies. I am the Life Sciences Subject Group Management Team. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and an External Examiner at University of Lincoln.

I was previously a postdoctoral research scientist in Upland Research Group at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT; 2010-2013) and did my PhD at the Centre for Agri-environmental Research, University of Reading, in conjunction with the GWCT Allerton Project (2005-2009). I have a BSc in Ecological Sciences from the University of Edinburgh (2001-2005). I was inspired to pursue ecological research during summer field/lab-based research assistant posts I did at University of Glasgow (2005) and BBSRC Rothamsted Research's Insect Survey (2003, 2004).

Please contact me if you are interested in doing a PhD project within my lab.

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Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Invited judge: CIEEM Member of the Year Award
  • Invited working group member: Curlew Recovery Partnership England, Forestry Working Group
  • School leadership: Member of the Life Sciences Subject Group Management Team at Edinburgh Napier University
  • Invited as panel member to review CIEEM Competency Framework with a focus on academic members
  • Invited referee for a People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) Conservation Insights Grant application
  • Organized/ran a workshop of professional ecologists on "Robots in Ecology"
  • Committee leadership: Deputy Research Degrees Lead, School of Applied Sciences (including attending University Research Degrees Committee)
  • Attended University Research Degrees Committee, deputizing for Research Degrees Lead
  • Invited committee member: CIEEM Training, Education and Career Development Committee
  • Elected committee member: CIEEM Academia Special Interest Group Committee
  • Invited expert to Bean Goose Action Group Steering Committee on bean goose research
  • Elected member of CIEEM Scottish Members' Section Committee
  • Invited to Forestry Commission Scotland's Woodland Expansion Group Stakeholder Meeting due to expertise on black grouse and forestry
  • Invited expert to Black Grouse Biodiversity Action Plan Steering Committee on black grouse research

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Conference Organizing Committee - CIEEM Spring Conference 2021 (“Long -term Ecological Research Projects: Using Evidence to Inform Practice")
  • Conference Organizing Committee - CIEEM Autumn Conference 2018 (“Advances in Ecological Restoration and Habitat Creation”)
  • Session chair and organizing committee: CIEEM Scottish Conference 2018 ("Wildlife Tourism in Scotland")

 

Editorial Activity

  • Member of Editorial Board for In Practice (Bulletin of the Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management)

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External examiner, University of Greenwich (MSc Environmental Conservation)

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Fellowship (appointed by Governing Board): Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management (post-nominals FCIEEM)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (post-nominals FHEA)
  • Edinburgh Napier Students' Association Excellence Award - Best Tutor (Applied Sciences)

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Invited grant reviewer: NERC SUPER DTP proposals

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited speaker: Forestry & Land Scotland South Region Staff CPD series (on otter research)
  • Invited speaker at Scottish Ringers' Conference 2019 on black grouse research
  • Invited speaker at Scottish Natural Heritage Lunchtime Seminar Series on agroecology research
  • Conference presentation: Marine Alliance for Science & Technology's 'Annual Science Meeting' (co-author)
  • Conference presentation: CIEEM 'Autumn Conference, Mitigation Monitoring and Effectiveness' (co-author)
  • Invited speaker at Perthshire Black Grouse Study Group Annual Meeting on black grouse research
  • Floor presentation at British Ornithologists’ Union ‘Avian demography in a changing world’ (University of Leicester, England) on agroecology research
  • Invited speaker at The Wildlife Information Centre Autumn Conference ‘Why biological recording matters’ (Vogrie Country Park, Scotland) on my programme of research
  • Invited speaker at Moorland Forum/GWCT ‘Thinking CAP – Upland Research and Management’ (Perth, Scotland) on black grouse research
  • Floor presentation at University of Uppsala ‘6th International Black Grouse Conference’  (University of Uppsala, Sweden) on black grouse research
  • Floor presentation at Society for Conservation Biology ‘3rd European Congress of Conservation Biologists’ (Glasgow, Scotland) on black grouse research
  • Floor presentation at Forestry Commission ‘Future of Scotland’s Woodland Grouse’ (Dunkeld, Scotland) on black grouse research
  • Floor presentation at Oxford University’s Edward Grey Institute ‘Student Conference’ (University of Groningen, Netherlands) on agroecology research

 

Media Activity

  • Featured on front page of The Herald newspaper about agroecology research
  • Featured on BBC radio’s ‘Out of Doors’ to discuss black grouse research
  • Featured on BBC television’s ‘Landward’ to discuss black grouse research
  • Featured in Shooting Times magazine to discuss black grouse research

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member - IUCN Grouse Specialist Group
  • Member - IUCN Otter Specialist Group
  • Professional membership: Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management (post-nominals MCIEEM 2013-2023 and FCIEEM 2023 onwards)

 

Reviewing

  • Reviewer: Ecological Solutions & Evidence (Wiley) journal
  • Invited to review: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (Springer) journal
  • Reviewer: Ibis (Wiley) journal
  • Reviewer - Ecosphere (Wiley)
  • Invited to review - Ecology & Evolution (Wiley)
  • Reviewer - Journal of Wildlife Management (Wiley)
  • Reviewer - European Journal of Wildlife Research (Springer)
  • Reviewer - Heliyon (Elsevier)
  • Reviewer - Movement Ecology (Springer)
  • Reviewer - Ibis (British Ornithologists' Union)
  • Reviewer - Ibis (British Ornithologists' Union)
  • Reviewer- Ecological Modelling (Elsevier)
  • Reviewer-Journal of Applied Ecology (Wiley)

 

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30 results

A literary deep dive: Assessing the reporting rates of cetacean availability bias for estimating abundance from digital aerial surveys

Presentation / Conference

Do UK survey licenses for otter support best practice?

Journal Article
White, P., & Findlay, M. (2024)
Do UK survey licenses for otter support best practice?. In Practice, 48-52
Under the Habitats Regulations, resting/breeding places of otters (Lutra lutra) are protected from damage and disturbance, and ecologists are expected to identify such structu...

The impacts of forestry on breeding curlew distribution – a report to the Forestry Commission

Report
McGrory, R., Briers, R., Findlay, M., & White, P. (2024)
The impacts of forestry on breeding curlew distribution – a report to the Forestry Commission. Forestry Commission
We were commissioned by Forestry Commission (FC) to utilise the large-scale Breeding Waders of English Upland Farmland (BWEUF) data and the wider literature to provide evidenc...

Optimisation of Open-habitat Bird Surveys – a report to the Forestry Commission

Report
Borthwick, M., Findlay, M., Briers, R., & White, P. (2024)
Optimisation of Open-habitat Bird Surveys – a report to the Forestry Commission. Forestry Commission
In the process of offering financial grants to landowners seeking to create new areas of woodland in England, the Forestry Commission (FC) requires surveying of proposed woodl...

Choice of model and re‐nesting probability function influences behaviour of avian seasonal productivity models and their demographic predictions

Journal Article
White, P. J. C., Stoate, C., Aebisher, N. J., Szczur, J., Ferrer, L., & Norris, K. (2024)
Choice of model and re‐nesting probability function influences behaviour of avian seasonal productivity models and their demographic predictions. Ibis, 166(2), 455-471. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13267
Measuring seasonal productivity is difficult in multi‐brooded species without labour‐intensive ringing studies. Individual‐based (IB) models have been used to estimate seasona...

An evidence-based approach to identifying resting sites of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) from camera-trap and field-sign data

Journal Article
Findlay, M. A., Briers, R. A., Ingledew, R. P., & James Ciaran White, P. (2023)
An evidence-based approach to identifying resting sites of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) from camera-trap and field-sign data. Wildlife Biology, 2023(1), Article e01036. https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01036
Mammals' resting sites (dens) are important features of their ecology. Eurasian otter Lutra lutra resting sites are strictly protected by UK and European legislation and are o...

Habitat selection of smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata) in the peri-coastal, urbanised landscape of Goa, India

Journal Article
Dias, S. J., White, P. J. C., Sinai Borker, A., & Vaz Fernandes, N. (2022)
Habitat selection of smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata) in the peri-coastal, urbanised landscape of Goa, India. Mammal Research, 67(3), 299-309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-022-00639-1
Human development can have detrimental impacts on the environment and its contained ecosystems. However, several species have adapted to thrive in human-modified landscapes. T...

Linking agri-environment scheme habitat area, predation and the abundance of chick invertebrate prey to the nesting success of a declining farmland bird

Journal Article
McHugh, N. M., White, P. J. C., Moreby, S., Szczur, J., Stoate, C., Leather, S. R., & Holland, J. M. (2022)
Linking agri-environment scheme habitat area, predation and the abundance of chick invertebrate prey to the nesting success of a declining farmland bird. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 3(2), Article e12155. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12155
1. Across Europe, farmland bird populations have continued to decline since the 1970s owing to the intensification of farming practices. Studies of such declines have tended t...

Multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis reveals a mismatch between the wintering distribution of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis and its protected area

Journal Article
Thornton, M., Mitchell, C., Griffin, L., Briers, R., Minshull, B., Maciver, A., & White, P. (2022)
Multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis reveals a mismatch between the wintering distribution of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis and its protected area. Bird Study, 68(2), 157-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2021.1966740
Capsule: Our multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis highlights the importance of monitoring and review...

Genetic diversity of the Nubian ibex in Oman as revealed by mitochondrial DNA

Journal Article
Al-Ghafri, M. K., White, P. J. C., Briers, R. A., Dicks, K. L., Ball, A., Ghazali, M., …Senn, H. (2021)
Genetic diversity of the Nubian ibex in Oman as revealed by mitochondrial DNA. Royal Society Open Science, 8(5), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210125
The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and sou...

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Formal mentor for a SUPER DTP PhD student based at University of Stirling
  • PhD supervisor on a SUPER DTP studentship based at University of Aberdeen