Profile

Dr Debbie Russell
Senior Research Fellow
Research Overview:
I am interested in the marine ecosystem and species at the interface between the marine and terrestrial environments, namely seals and seabirds which are dependent on the marine ecosystem for food but on the terrestrial environment for breeding. I am particularly interested in interactions on various levels: among different taxa, between species and humans, and between species and their changing environment.
Key research topics
- Investigation of seal population trends and their drivers.
- Using a mixture of Bayesian and frequentist methods to analyse harbour and grey seal telemetry data to answer both pure and applied research questions.
- Investigation of the impact of anthropogenic structures, their construction, operation and decommisioning, on marine predators.
- Using movement and behavioural data within a state-space modelling framework to define activity budgets.
- Modelling interactions between seals and fisheries in a spatial context, using state space models.
- Modelling the effect of climate variation on British seabirds.
Current Group
- Post Docs
- Matt Carter, “Comparative Habitat preference of seals around UK”.
- Theoni Photopoulou, "Estimating grey seal population size"
- PhD students
- Katherine Whyte, “Behavioural responses by seals to offshore energy activities”.
- Lauren Arkoosh, "Seals as sentinels of antimicrobial resistance: mapping antimicrobial resistance genes in UK waters" (based at University of Abertay)
- Izzy Langley, "Inter-specific Interactions: investigating the role of grey seals in the harbour seal decline."
Alumni
- Post doc
- James Grecian (2017), "Man-made structures and Apex Predators: Spatial interactions and overlap"
- PhD
- J. Chris McKnight (2018). Counting the Cost of Tagging: Quantifying and Reducing the Behavioural and Energetic Impacts of Tags in a Large Marine Vertebrate.
- Matt Carter (2018). From pup to predator: Ontogeny of foraging behaviour in grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) pups
- Masters
- Hannah Wyles: A novel method for classifying habitat use by grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) using seabed geomorphology.
- Lauren Himmelreich: What can rehabilitation seals tell us about wild populations?
- Sara Young: Potential Effects of Captivity on Dive Behaviour and Movement Patterns of Juvenile Grey Seals
- Raquel Soley Calvet: Living among giants: Habitat modelling of Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
- J. Chris McKnight: Short-term effects of capture and tag attachment in common seals, Phoca vitulina.
Teaching
- 2nd year interdisciplinary module "Science Methods"
- Marine Mammal Biology and Environmental Biology Masters.
- Quantitative Methods for Ecology
- Research Methods in Marine Mammal Science
20 (of 56 /dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/status/published available) for dr60 (source: University of St Andrews PURE)
Please click title of any item for full details
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2020 vol. 147 pp. 3948-3958
Oikos 2020 vol. 129 pp. 630-642
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences 2020 vol. 287
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2020 vol. 148 pp. 1014-1029
Ecological Applications 2019 vol. 29
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 2019 vol. 29 pp. 6-23
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 2019 vol. 29 pp. 24-39
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 2019 vol. 29 pp. 144-156
PLoS Biology 2019 vol. 17
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 2019 vol. 29 pp. 40-60
Journal of Applied Ecology 2018 vol. 55 pp. 684-693
2018
Conservation Letters 2017 vol. 10 pp. 459-468
2017 vol. 602
Marine Pollution Bulletin 2017 vol. 114 pp. 372-383
2017
2017 vol. OESEA-15-65
Contact Details:
Dr Debbie RussellScottish Oceans Institute
East Sands
University of St Andrews
St Andrews
KY16 8LB
Fife
UK
tel: 01334 467281/1808
fax: 01334 463443
room: 2.07a
email: dr60@st-andrews.ac.uk
Related:
research@st-andrewsCentre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modelling
Sea Mammal Research Unit
School of Biology
National Centre for Statistical Ecology
Centre for Biological Diversity
Scottish Oceans Institute
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