PhD in Geographic Modelling

PhD studentship at the University of Essex based in Essex, UK./nFocus on how climate, land use and protected area management affect condition, behaviour and spatial distribution of Afro-Palearctic migratory waterbirds across breeding, passage and winter ranges./nProject will use existing population and demographic monitoring data held by the British Trust for Ornithology and integrate data from monitoring schemes (e.g. BTO/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey, Sentinel satellite, BirdTrack) with statistical and remote sensing approaches./nStatistical modelling approaches (e.g. GLMMs and hierarchical models using INLA) will examine spatiotemporal changes in bird distributions in response to protection, land use change, management, weather and climate. Opportunities for field monitoring, international collaborations, tagging and movement studies are available./nFunding: full PhD scholarship up to a maximum of 3.5 years including Home tuition fee waiver, living costs stipend at UKRI level (£20,780 for 2025-26) and a research allowance for authorised research costs.