The following are current PhD research projects involving collaborations between Butterfly Conservation and partner universities and institutes:
Cosmo De Bonis-Campbell: Deep learning methods for large citizen science datasets. University of Kent.
Cosmo is developing new deep learning methods which can be used with the less consistent data provided by citizen scientists. His hope is to expand and refine the possibilities for spatiotemporal (especially phenological) modelling of species occupancy, with particular focus on butterflies and moths.
Madeleine Fabusova: Mitigating the impacts of artificial light at night on biodiversity. Newcastle University, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Northumbria University, A Rocha Portugal
Madeleine's project aims to assess how we can mitigate the detrimental impacts of artificial light at night (known as ALAN) on biodiversity, primarily moths (but also other insects). Her project combines behavioural work as well as using the principles of network ecology, to identify mitigation measures which could be applied more widely.
Ellie Grove: Using a comparative approach to determine the sub-lethal effects of pesticide exposure on non-target butterflies and moths. UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Cardiff University
Ellie is working at UKCEH testing the sub-lethal effects of agricultural chemical exposure on the model species Cabbage Moth Mamestra brassicae. She is particularly interested in how additional pressures that may be experienced in the field in combination with sub-lethal exposure may influence lepidopteran life history traits such as hatching success, growth, pupation and eclosion success, and fecundity.
Laura Jiménez Burney: Endosymbionts as an overlooked threat for insect reintroductions. University of Liverpool, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (Belgium)
Laura’s project involves studying the impact of Wolbachia endosymbionts on the reintroduction success of the Chequered Skipper butterfly, focusing on cytoplasmic incompatibility between different genetic lineages. Through crossing experiments, genomic analysis, and phylogeographic approaches, she aims to understand how these interactions affect population establishment and dynamics.
Rachel Jones: The effects of habitat management and climate change on the Lulworth Skipper butterfly. University of Exeter
The Lulworth Skipper is classified as Near Threatened in Europe and Britain, and climate change is expected to erode its current European distribution by 30-45% by 2080. In Britain however, warming is expected to benefit the Lulworth Skipper, but evidence for the effects of climate and habitat change on population dynamics is lacking. With her research, Rachel is exploring: a) the metapopulation dynamics of the British distribution of Lulworth Skipper and how they are affected by changes in habitat quality; b) the effects of habitat management interventions on their populations through experimental trials; c) how spatial variation in turf height and topography might moderate their response to climate change, to inform management.
Jones Rachel | Ecology and Conservation | University of Exeter
X @RachJBC
Will Langdon: Understanding insect sensitivity to nitrogen pollution. University of Oxford
Will's project seeks via a mixture of experiments, fieldwork and analysis of Butterfly Conservation datasets, to understand how different insect species (primarily Lepidoptera) vary in their sensitivity to the impacts of nitrogen pollution via changes in the quality of foodplants, the abundance of foodplants and vegetation structure, and what the likely impacts of pollution will therefore be on insect communities.
Mingrui Li: Population density and public access drives the density and composition of citizen science butterflies’ records. University of Exeter, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mingrui is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Exeter. His PhD research focuses on the relationship between human behaviour and butterflies.
Laura Sharp: Understanding and reversing the decline of moorland moths in the UK. Scotland’s Rural University, The James Hutton Institute
Laura’s work involves understanding the impact of upland moorland land management practices on moth species distribution and diversity. Her work will help inform policy and practice on a suite of moorland management practices that will best support the conservation of upland moths.
Connect with Laura on LinkedIn
Past PhD projects
James Clarke (2024) Modelling butterfly abundance at varying spatial scales to inform conservation delivery. University of Kent
Georgina Halford (2024) Informing species reintroductions with modelling and population genetics: Testing methods with Carterocephalus palaemon, the Chequered Skipper butterfly. University of Liverpool
Jamie Wildman (2023) The history, ecology, and reintroduction of the chequered skipper butterfly Carterocephalus palaemon in England. University of Northampton
Fiona Bell (2022) Grizzled Skippers (Pyrgus malvae) under threat: Investigating impacts of climate and land-use change on an early successional habitat UK specialist. University of Liverpool
Douglas Boyes (2022) Artificial light at night and moth population declines: are they linked? Newcastle University
Richard Fox (2020) Citizen science and Lepidoptera biodiversity change in Great Britain. University of Exeter
Callum Macgregor (2017) The role of moths as pollinators, and the effects of environmental change. Newcastle University
Melanie Smee (2011) Population ecology and genetics of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly Euphydryas aurinia. University of Exeter
Annabel Hoare (1999) An evaluation of downland turf re-creation, using invertebrates as indicators. Bournemouth University