Dr Christine Howard

Assistant Professor

What do you do?

I am a new Assistant Professor in Ecology, with an interest in understanding large-scale patterns of biodiversity. I came to Durham in 2011 to complete a PhD on the impacts of climate and land-use change on European bird populations. Following this, I worked on projects with the United States Forest Service to identify the environmental and anthropogenic drivers of species rarity, and the British Trust for Ornithology to model the migratory journeys of Afro-Palearctic migrant birds. 

How are you involved in this area of science? 

I am particularly interested in the abundances and distributions of species, and how these are influenced by the environment, especially at large scales. To do this, I often use data from large citizen science projects alongside remote sensing data derived from satellite images.

My work to date has involved researching the importance of climate and land-use change in driving changes in European bird populations, unravelling the drivers of population declines of migratory birds, and identifying the processes associated with species’ extinction risk at a global scale. Most recently I have been working on modelling the migratory journeys of birds. Exposed to the pressures of predation, hunting, and having to find food, all while travelling long distances, migration is the most perilous part of the year for migrants.

To identify how we can help these species in a changing world, we have been developing a new computer model that can predict the complex journeys of these species and identify where and when these individual birds are most at risk. 

What do you love about this topic?

Growing up on a farm, I have always loved being outside enjoying the natural world. My background gave me first-hand experience of the positive and negative relationships that humans can have with biodiversity.

Since then, I have always tried to act in an environmentally friendly way and to share my love for the natural world with others. I love that my job gives me the opportunity to use my skills to inform others about the value of biodiversity and the importance of conservation.

How does this work deliver real-world impact?

Our work on assessing the role of changes in climate for driving changes in European bird populations has already had real-world impact, having been used to support the continuation of an important piece of international conservation legislation: the EU Birds Directive.

Along with informing conservation relevant policy, I hope that my work will be able to assist in identifying the species and locations most at risk, and the actions (e.g. the siting of new protected areas) needed to conserve biodiversity in a changing world.