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Kelly Atkins

PhD Student

Environment and Sustainability Institute ESI 01.15

Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK

Overview

I have diverse experience in wildlife ecology and management, with work ranging across taxa from grizzly bears to seabirds. I am interested in questions pertaining to the influence of human activities on wildlife behaviour and the ecological consequences thereof.

My research examines how the utilisation of food subsidies, in the form of discards from commercial fisheries, influences the foraging behaviour and spatial ecology of northern gannets (Morus bassanus), across age classes, during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Understanding the extent to which this occurs throughout the population and geographic range of the species can help inform marine spatial planning efforts and shed light on the consequences of fisheries policy changes.

I am supervised by Dr. Rich Sherley, Prof. Stephen Votier and Prof. Stuart Bearhop