Dr Richard Sherley (He/Him)

Dr Richard Sherley is an Associate Professor in Marine Ecology and Conservation. He undertakes a portfolio of roles in this position, focused around working with students, early career researchers and other collaborators to use the power of research and education to understand and pose solutions to the global biodiversity crisis. His research focuses on human impacts on the oceans using long-term data on animal populations, technology-led approaches to study behaviour and cutting-edge analytical techniques to understand what drives population change in marine vertebrates and to develop strategies to balance conserving species in decline with the sustainable use of ocean resources. Projects have focused on marine predators in southern Africa, the Southern Ocean, North Sea, Celtic Sea, Mediterranean, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean and at a global scale.

Richard’s PhD (University of Bristol, 2010) was undertaken in collaboration with scientists at the University of Cape Town and focused on the demography and conservation of African penguins and Bank cormorants on Robben Island. This was followed by a stint at the University of Cape Town, as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2011–2014), before a move back to the U.K. and a stint at the Bristol Zoological Society (2015–2018). In 2019, he was awarded a prestigious Pew fellowship in marine conservation; he subsequently took up a permanent academic post at the University of Exeter in 2020. Richard has published over 100 papers, reports and book chapters on a range of subjects spanning things like seabird ecology, shark demography, ecosystem effects of fisheries, behavioural ecology, and impacts of marine plastics.

Office hours:

• Term 1 25/26 – Wednesday 14–15h00 and Thursday 11–12h00
• Term 2 25/26 – Wednesday 10–11h00 and Thursday 11–12h00 
• Term 3 25/26 – Wednesday 10–11h00 and Thursday 11–12h00 

Click here to book 15 minute slots with me during my office hours (either in person or on MS Teams). No need to email me to let me know (I get an automatic email when someone books a slot).