Sue Lewis
sue lewis

Dr Sue Lewis

Lecturer

 0131 455 3805

  S.Lewis@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

I am an ecologist with a passion for research with conservation goals. My overall research aims are to understand variation amongst individuals in demographic rates and explore the consequences of this variation on population dynamics. I use long term individual-based data of wild animal populations, focussing mostly on seabirds, to examine these questions. This research area is important in understanding environmental drivers of population change and predicting future change. This is particularly relevant to seabirds, as they are currently one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates worldwide.

I started at Edinburgh Napier University in 2021 and am a lecturer in ecology. I am also a teaching fellow at the Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, and a postdoctoral fellow at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. I held a NERC postdoctoral research fellowship at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh from 2007-2016. Before this I was a teaching and research fellow at the Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen and prior to that held a Leverhulme early career research fellowship there from 2004-2006. I did my PhD at the Department of Biosciences, University of Durham in conjunction with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. I have a MSc in Marine and Fisheries Science from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc in Ecology and Environmental Management from the University of Cardiff.

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37 results

Local-scale variability in the diet of Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla

Journal Article
Bull, J., Wanless, S., Elston, D., Daunt, F., Lewis, S., & Harris, M. (2004)
Local-scale variability in the diet of Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla. Ardea, 92(1), 43-52
The Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla is a small gull that is widely distributed in the North Atlantic and Pacific. During the breeding season it feeds mainly on fish an...

Brood neglect and contingent foraging behavior in a pelagic seabird

Journal Article
Lewis, S., Hamer, K. C., Money, L., Griffiths, R., Wanless, S., & Sherratt, T. N. (2004)
Brood neglect and contingent foraging behavior in a pelagic seabird. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 56(1), 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0762-0
Among species where there is a risk to leaving offspring unattended, parents usually take alternating shifts guarding their young. However, they may occasionally exhibit brood...

Contrasting diet quality of northern gannets Morus bassanus at two colonies

Journal Article
Lewis, S., Sherratt, T., Hamer, K., Harris, M., & Wanless, S. (2003)
Contrasting diet quality of northern gannets Morus bassanus at two colonies. Ardea, 91(2), 167-176
The diet of Northern Gannets Morus bassanus during chick rearing was determined at two colonies in the UK and Ireland that differed markedly in size (the Bass Rock with c. 40 ...

Sex-specific foraging behaviour in a monomorphic seabird

Journal Article
Lewis, S., Benvenuti, S., Dall–Antonia, L., Griffiths, R., Money, L., Sherratt, T. N., …Hamer, K. C. (2002)
Sex-specific foraging behaviour in a monomorphic seabird. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 269(1501), 1687-1693. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2083
Sexual differences in the foraging behaviour of parents have been observed in a number of sexually size- dimorphic birds, particularly seabirds, and the usual inference has be...

Sexing Northern Gannets from DNA, Morphology and Behavior

Journal Article
Redman, K. K., Lewis, S., Griffiths, R., Wanless, S., & Hamer, K. C. (2002)
Sexing Northern Gannets from DNA, Morphology and Behavior. Waterbirds, 25(2), 230-234. https://doi.org/10.1675/1524-4695%282002%29025%5B0230%3Asngfdm%5D2.0.co%3B2
In keeping with many species of waterbirds, there is little difference in the body size or external appearance of adult male and female Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus). Prev...

Diet and breeding performance of black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla at a North Sea colony

Journal Article
Lewis, S., Wanless, S., Wright, P., Harris, M., Bull, J., & Elston, D. (2001)
Diet and breeding performance of black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla at a North Sea colony. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 221, 277-284. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps221277
The lesser sandeel Ammodytes marinus is a key prey species for many avian predators in the North Sea, and is the target of the largest single species fishery in the area. This...

Evidence of intra-specific competition for food in a pelagic seabird

Journal Article
Lewis, S., Sherratt, T. N., Hamer, K. C., & Wanless, S. (2001)
Evidence of intra-specific competition for food in a pelagic seabird. Nature, 412(6849), 816-819. https://doi.org/10.1038/35090566
The factors affecting the population dynamics of seabirds have long intrigued biologists. Current data suggest that density-dependent depletion of prey during the breeding sea...