Biography
I work as a Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation at the School of Applied Sciences of Edinburgh Napier University, where I also am a member of the Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science (CCRS). Prior to working at Edinburgh Napier University, I was Assistant Professor at the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) of Suzhou, China (2019-2022). In China, I also worked as a postdoc at Guangxi University (2015-2016) and Sun Yat-sen University (2016-2019). I obtained my PhD from the University of Barcelona (2014). My PhD project, developed at the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, focused on the relationships between diet, ecology, and plumage colouration, using Great Tits (Parus major) as model. Since 2020, I serve as an Associate Editor at Ecology and Evolution and Ornithological Applications.
RESEARCH
I am a field ecologist with broad interests in ecology, evolution and behaviour. I enjoy studying birds to understand how our activities impact biodiversity and to think in ways in which these impacts can be minimized. I employ an array of methodologies and techniques in my research. I am especially keen to conduct experiments and observations in the field but have also explored lab techniques such as stable isotopes and deep genomic sequencing. I also use citizen data sources. To date, I have published over 40 manuscripts in conservation, ecology and ornithology journals such as Conservation Biology, Ecography, Oecologia, Ibis or Journal of Avian Biology.
GRANTS AND SUPERVISION
I have recently completed the project 3177020270 “The impact of urbanization on genotypes and phenotypes of Barn Swallows” funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China with RMB640,000 (approx. £76,500). Linked to this project, I am supervising the PhD project "Resource use and genetic divergence in urban and rural populations of Barn Swallows (Hirunda rustica)" led by Sihao Chen, which is funded by XJTLU. I am also supervising the PhD project “Urbanization and community structure: the impact of habitat transformation on competition and predation in avian assemblages”, led by Yu Zeng and also funded by XJTLU.
MEDIA OUTPUT
My last publication, Trade-offs between economic development and biodiversity conservation on a tropical island, published in Conservation Biology (https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13912) was picked up by several media outlets such as Phys.org, Science Magazine or UK Today News.