Dr Rebecca Senior

Assistant Professor

What do you do?

I work in the Biosciences Department as an Assistant Professor in Ecology. I am a conservation biologist working to find pragmatic solutions to the global biodiversity crisis. Nature is something that we should all explore, learn and benefit from – not as a luxury, but as a necessity. 

How are you involved in this area of science? 

My research is centred around understanding the drivers of biodiversity loss and the ways in which we can mitigate that loss. I have a keen interest in using advances in technology and open data to improve monitoring and inform evidence-based conservation.

In particular, I believe that our understanding of climate and land-use change impacts is vastly improved by considering the climate that organisms actually experience, the microclimate. Previously, I explored this in Bornean rainforest, where I quantified the impact of selective logging on microclimates.

Now, we are turning this question around to discover whether rewilding in the UK can restore microclimates and thereby provide species with refuge from climate change.

What do you love about this topic?

Considering ecology from a micro- scale as been hugely enlightening. There are so many findings that rest on a view of the world from a human perspective, but most life on Earth is very small and exists very close to the Earth’s surface. When you see the world through their lens, you realise that actually it might be experienced very differently by these smaller life forms. To gain such a perspective, you need to apply a combination of technological advances and basic fieldwork – a perfect 'day in the office' for me.

How does this work deliver real-world impact?

Everything that I do is about trying to understand drivers of biodiversity loss, and then find pragmatic solutions to mitigate that loss. In terms of microclimate ecology, this can help us to more accurately predict species’ responses to climate change, which allows more targeted and effective protections to be designed and implemented.

An understanding of the role of microclimates in buffering species from extreme weather can also directly influence land management practices. For example, by leaving ‘wild’ areas of long grass and dense shrubs, where species can find damp, cool shade when they need it.