The RSPB supports and supervises a wide range of MSc projects each year. If you are interested in any of the projects below and you are already enrolled on an MSc course at a university, send an e-mail with “MSc project” as the subject to the project coordinator listed in the advert.
This year, we have 18 opportunities, we look forward to hearing from you.
Temporal changes in White-necked Picathartes colonies
White-necked Picathartes is one of West Africa’s emblematic species. A species dependent on specific nesting sites these birds are highly sensitive to habitat encroachment and disturbances. This project aims to produce an up-to-date assessment of colony occupancy and investigate the impact of a community-based intervention on colony status.
Project coordinator: felicity.edwards@rspb.org.uk
Project Type: MSc Analytical
Key Skills needed: good analytical skills.
Background and conservation case: The Greater Gola Landscape (GGL) programme spans a multi-functional landscape between Sierra Leone and Liberia, comprising lowland tropical rainforest, traditional slash and burn agriculture and agroforestry. Central to this conservation project, is understanding the long term spatial and temporal trends in biodiversity, across the landscape gradient, and specifically those high conservation value species (IUCN Red-Listed). White-necked Picathartes is one of these emblematic species and a priority for the project. A species dependent on specific nesting sites—namely rocky outcrops with overhangs near streams and within intact forests — these birds are highly sensitive to habitat encroachment and disturbances at their nesting colonies, many of which are located outside the protected area. Long-term monitoring of colonies within and around GRNP has occurred since 2006 at regular intervals. Understanding colony resilience is essential for developing conservation strategies with local communities, thereby protecting the species, and enhancing the effective management of the GRNP. Protecting colonies necessitates community engagement and active involvement, especially with those colonies outside of the national park boundaries. A community youth conservation volunteer programme was piloted. Critical to the implementation of a revised intervention programme in coming years is to look at the effectiveness of this past intervention on colony occupancy.
Aims/Methods: This project aims to; i) have an up-to-date assessment of colony occupancy in GGL, Sierra Leone and ii) investigate the impact of a community-based intervention on colony status. In this project, the student will have the opportunity to carry out an analysis of colony occupancy from the most recent survey data and comparing to previous surveys to look at temporal changes. Additionally, the student will have the opportunity to compare colony status at control (no community intervention) sites versus intervention ones in a BACI design which represents an unusual chance to directly test the impact of community-based conservation, an increasingly important and socially just approach to conservation in the biodiversity rich tropics.
Long-term Trends in Wader Populations
This project analyses 15 years of bird transect data from Forsinard RSPB, focusing on long-term trends in wader populations. The study aims to assess changes in species abundance, providing crucial insights into the conservation status of waders in parts of the newly designated World Heritage Site.
Project coordinator: robert.hughes@rspb.org.uk
Background and Conservation Case: Long-term trends in wader populations are crucial indicators of ecosystem health and environmental change, particularly in sensitive habitats like those at Forsinard RSPB. Waders are often highly specialized and vulnerable to alterations in habitat conditions, climate change, and human activity. Understanding these trends helps to identify shifts in population dynamics, guiding conservation efforts to protect these species and maintain the biodiversity of the region. Continuous monitoring over 15 years provides a robust dataset that can reveal subtle, yet significant, changes that short-term studies might miss, allowing for more informed and effective management strategies for wader conservation.
Aims/Methods: (i)To analyse the 15-year dataset of bird transect surveys at Forsinard RSPB, with a specific focus on identifying and quantifying long-term trends in wader populations (ii) to evaluate the potential environmental and ecological factors influencing changes in wader species abundance over the 15-year period, contributing to the development of targeted conservation strategies.
Using acoustics to monitor priority bird species
Conservation success is dependent on understanding population trends, species’ habitat use and movements. This can be difficult to achieve for elusive species, or across large spatial scales that some species require. Acoustic monitoring can address these challenges and this project will use existing datasets to test its reliability and effectiveness.
Project Coordinator: robert.hawkes@rspb.org.uk
Key Skills Needed: R / Python competency strongly desired
Background and Conservation Case: Species monitoring underpins all conservation efforts and is used to monitor population changes, species' behaviours, habitat use and movement patterns. This is harder to achieve for species that are elusive, rare or occupy large territories. Common cuckoos and Turtle doves, two of RSPB's priority conservation species, fall under this description. At the same time, conservation efforts are slowly moving to larger spatial scales of whole landscapes, like in the case of rewilding, where thorough and regular surveys are costly and difficult to execute. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has emerged as a tool to monitor trends of whole populations, specific species, or individuals. Advances in the technology are making PAM affordable to use at large spatial scales, and we know that in some habitats, PAM can effectively confirm the presence of elusive and rare species, and even pinpoint individual's locations or tell them apart. In theory, PAM could be used to monitor whole populations and communities, which could support conservation monitoring. However, before this can be relied on and supplement standard monitoring methods, we need to test its effectiveness in new and complex habitats, such as rewilded sites. At an individual level and with the complimentary use of high-precision RTK, we can also begin asking novel questions like whether we can use PAM to track the movement of individuals, and to supplement, or even replace, tagging.
Aims/Methods: The project will primarily make use of existing datasets, which include acoustic data (~3000 10-minute recordings from 30 recorders) that were collected during the 2024 breeding season at the rewilding Knepp Estate and includes morning and evening recordings of bird communities. Bird survey data following CBC methodology and targeted Cuckoo survey data are also available from the same period. There are several aims that this MSc project could tackle and students' own interest can inform the taken direction. The first aim would focus on monitoring of birds' precise locations and activity patterns, where a Python package would be used to perform acoustic multilateration (triangulation) to determine the exact singing locations of priority bird species, such as Common cuckoos or Turtle doves, or to identify acoustic activity hotspots of whole bird communities and relate these to environmental predictors. To make this possible, acoustic data were collected across a precisely positioned grid (measured with an RTK), which allows for empirical testing of triangulation precision at different scales and the evaluation of different sampling intensities. Alternatively, the project could focus on testing acoustic monitoring as a survey method, where data derived from the recordings would be compared to those from CBC and targeted species surveys, which would inform the extent to which acoustic monitoring could supplement or replace standard monitoring methods. There may be an opportunity to supplement the existing datasets with further fieldwork at Knepp, or to run supplementary control trials supporting the multilateration approach.
Mapping changes in riparian woodland in West Africa
The project would map the current and past extent of riparian woodland in the Sahel and savanna zones of West Africa. This important habitat for birds may have declined significantly over the past decades, but there has never been a systematic assessment of changes.
Project Coordinator: Alison.beresford@rspb.org.uk
Project type: MSc Analytical
Key skills needed: Previous experience of working with remote sensing data is highly desirable.
Background and conservation case: Riparian woodland in the Sahel and savanna zones of West Africa has long been recognised an important habitat for birds. Recent evidence suggests this may especially be the case for migratory species, which tend to over-winter in more arid zones than resident species (Zwarts et al. 2023a) and that the habitat is particularly important in dry years, when it acts as a refuge in an otherwise extremely hot and dry environment (Zwarts et al. 2023b). Riparian woodland has also been identified from tracking data as important for Turtle Doves wintering in Senegal, Mali and Mauritania, providing shade, roosting sites and access to water. It also acts as an important connective habitat and provides ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, climate regulation, erosion control, flooding protection, timber and non-timber forest products. In-situ observations and some small-scale studies suggest there may have been significant declines in the extent of riparian woodland across West Africa over the past decades, but there has been no systematic assessment of changes.
Aims/Methods: This project would use newly available high-resolution maps of tree cover, including trees outside of forests, combined with data on water courses and seasonality to map the current extent of riparian woodlands across the region. We would then use this map to train a model using longer-term satellite imagery (e.g. MODIS NDVI (2000-present) or Landsat ARD (1982-present)) to map past potential extent of riparian woodland and assess changes over time. This would allow us to understand both the magnitude and distribution of any changes and help inform where future restoration efforts could be targeted.
Distribution of Liben lark in Eastern Ethiopia
Liben lark is a critically endangered Ethiopian endemic bird that is at imminent risk of extinction. The project would use existing data to model it's distribution in eastern Ethiopia
Project coordinator: graeme.buchanan@rspb.org.uk or simon.wotton@rspb.org.uk
Project type: MSc analytical
Background and conservation case: Liben lark is a critically endangered Ethiopian endemic bird that is at imminent risk of extinction (Spottiswoode et al 2009). It is known to occur at two disjunct sites in Ethiopia (Spottiswoode et al 2013). The westernmost around Liben plain was under pressure from expanding croplands and grazing (Spottiswoode et al 2009). Conservation efforts that benefitted people and birds were implemented but civil unrest and drought has impacted the activities at that site while populations have continued to decline (Mahamued et al 2022). A second site in eastern Ethiopia around Jijiga remains and is the current attention of survey effort. Transect surveys from this site have been conducted over a ten year period, generating a dataset of presences, together with apparent absences. The value of distribution modelling for the species has previously been shown, as a species distribution model identified the potential for a population in Jijiga (Donald et al 2010). Given the precarious status of the species, there is a need to identify whether there could be potentially suitable habitat that could be occupied i) close to the current population in Jijiga and ii) elsewhere in the region. Surveys could then be targeted to these sites. Use of temporal data from Jijiga could also be used to determine if the extent of habitat in that region has changed over time.
Aims/methods: The proposed project would develop and apply species distribution models for the species based on data surrounding Jijiga. The study would then extrapolate these models to a wider region. The project would then run year specific species distribution models to identify any trends in extent of habitat, discussing the reliability of these results. Survey data are unstructured and so ideal for Maxent or Bayesian Additive Regression Trees.
Using remote sensing to map restored peatlands
The spatial extents of peatland restoration in some parts of the U.K. is poorly defined. This project will use remote sensing data (aerial imagery and/ or Synthetic aperture radar) to detect and map areas of peatland restoration in areas of the U.K..
Project coordinator: mike.shewring@rspb.org.uk
Background and conservation case: Peatland restoration in the UK is a key element of land use emissions reduction UK Government’s Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050. There is however considerable uncertainty over the spatial extent and location of upland peatland restoration work undertaken to date. This inhibits research on the cascading effects of peatland restoration on downstream hydrological processes and wider ecosystem resilience. This work will develop an analysis pipeline to detect and map extents of peatland restoration using training datasets of known restoration interventions (e.g. dam locations) from RSPB reserves. Before applying this to upland areas of the U.K. to map peatland restoration in areas lacking this data.
Aims/methods: RGB aerial imagery would be used to train a deep learning image segmentation model with training datasets of known restoration interventions (e.g. dam locations) from RSPB reserves. Alongside this Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) back scatter data would be used to map soil moisture content in restored and unrestored peatlands, again using training datasets of known restoration extents from RSPB reserves (i.e. restored and unrestored areas of blanket bog), and develop a modelling approach to predict restoration probability based on soil moisture values and break points in the soil moisture time series.
Evaluating the success of twinflower restoration
Twinflower is a scarce and declining plant in the UK. This project would use existing data to evaluate the success of a recent translocation programme in the Cairngorms.
Project coordinator: pip.gullett@rspb.org.uk
Project type: MSc Analytical, some fieldwork possible, accommodation would be provided.
Background and Conservation case: Twinflower is a nationally scarce plant, now found at just a few hundred sites in Scotland. The loss and historic management of its native woodland habitat has led to a 44% decline since the 1970s. One of the things that makes twinflower particularly vulnerable to extinction in Scotland is the fact that it reproduces mainly by vegetative spread – meaning that most plants in a patch of twinflower are just clones of each other. In fact, most of the remaining patches in Scotland are made up of just one or two individual clones each. However, to be able to spread and survive in the long term, twinflower need to be able to reproduce sexually with different genetic individuals by producing seed. Cairngorms Connect are working to establish new twinflower populations within the Cairngorms Connect area, as well as bolstering some existing populations to help ensure their survival. Thanks to extensive work by others in the past, we now have a good understanding of the genetic make-up of most of the populations of twinflower present in the Cairngorms Connect area and elsewhere in Strathspey. In this project, additional clones have been translocated to existing patches to increase the genetic diversity of patches, as well as establishing entirely new populations in suitable habitat within the pinewoods of the Cairngorms.
Aims/methods: Translocations were carried out in 2014 at RSPB Abernethy, and we now have monitoring data from 5 years and 10 years post-translocation, from 60 translocation plots. This involved monitoring the survival/growth of twinflower patches, as well as evidence of flowering and seed set – both key indicators of the long-term success of the interventions. This MSc project would analyse these data to assess the success of translocations in relation to a range of variables for which we have existing data, including canopy cover, forest structure, aspect, clone identity, and ground cover. The student would also be able to join Cairngorms Connect monitoring staff for approximately one week in July, to complete the 5-year post-translocation monitoring of some additional patches planted in 2020.
Assessing the effects of plantation restructuring
Deadwood is a crucial part of a healthy forest, supporting a wide diversity of species and essential for ecosystem function. This project will use existing data to assess the effects of plantation restructuring (i.e. deadwood creation) on one key component of forest biodiversity: deadwood beetles.
Background and conservation case: Deadwood is an essential part of a healthy forest, home to a huge diversity of flora and fauna, which together play a vital role in recycling nutrients through the forest ecosystem, as well as being sources of food for other creatures. Unfortunately, in planted forests the amount and variety of deadwood is often far lower than that present in more natural woodland. At RSPB Abernethy, efforts to restore former plantations to ecologically rich, naturally functioning forests over recent decades has involved actively increasing the deadwood resource (so called "plantation restructuring"), both by killing trees and leaving trees in situ when they die. To find out how well this is working to restore the forests to healthier, functioning ecosystems, Cairngorms Connect has been monitoring one particularly crucial species group: deadwood beetles.
Aims/methods: During 2020-2023, Cairngorms Connect carried out monitoring of dead trees and deadwood beetles (a key component of forest biodiversity, essential for ecosystem function) in forest stands with and without recent deadwood creation. This project would use these existing data to quantify the effects of this management on deadwood beetle diversity and abundance.
Bioacoustics for tropical conservation
RSPB and partners have been trialling passive acoustic monitoring across the Greater Gola Landscape, Sierra Leone. This project will utilise a variety of analytical methods, including BirdNET and acoustic indices, to assess ecosystem condition and the presence of key species such as hornbills and primates.
Project Coordinator: tom.bradferlawrence@rspb.org.uk
Background and conservation case: The Greater Gola Landscape is part of the Upper Guinean Forest biodiversity hotspot. The landscape hosts over 300 bird species including the threatened Timneh Parrot (Psittacus timneh) and Yellow-casqued Hornbill (Ceratogymna elata), and more than 15 high conservation value mammal species (including Diana Monkey - Cercopithecus diana and Western Red Colobus - Piliocolobus badius).
Understanding long-term spatial and temporal biodiversity trends and gathering standardised data to support evidence-based conservation are central to the Greater Gola Landscape project. Passive acoustic monitoring offers opportunities to maximise monitoring efficacy, minimise potential damage, and complement existing methods. Autonomous acoustic recorders can collect many days’ of data during a single deployment, so are admirably suited to detecting rare or infrequently vocalising species. Hence, the opportunity to increase precision of occupancy estimates with acoustics-based models is enormous.
Aims/methods: The student will analyse existing datasets collected in the last two years across sites inside the National Park and the surrounding landscape. Analytical options include a range of existing tools; e.g., acoustic indices and BirdNET, and this could be extended to custom recognisers for primate species. These can be integrated with existing species and habitat datasets. Exact outputs will depend on the student's interests. Options include assessments of overall acoustic patterns with land use, bird communities inventories, or species distribution models for key high conservation value species.
Exploring opportunities for UK marine habitat restoration
The UK’s marine area is over three times greater than the terrestrial footprint, yet nature-based solutions have primarily focused on the terrestrial realm. This analytical project aims to explore the opportunities for habitat restoration and creation in the UK’s marine environment.
Project coordinator: joshua.copping@rspb.org.uk
Key skills needed: Ability to manipulate spatial data using programmes such as R, QGIS, ArcMap etc.
Background and conservation case: The UK’s marine realm is considerably larger than its terrestrial counterpart, where most attention for nature-based solutions such as habitat protection, restoration, and creation has occurred. Arguably, the marine realm has greater scope for deploying nature-based solutions to address the biodiversity and climate crises. However, the UK’s marine realm is complex with multiple activities competing for the same area, such as nature conservation, fishing, and offshore energy production. Therefore, in order to effectively deliver any of these activities without impacting on one another, a spatial plan is needed, but for this to happen, a greater understanding of where is suitable for such activities is required. Here, the focus is on habitat restoration and how this links with the potential for increasing blue carbon storage and sequestration, investigating whether there are potential synergies with existing marine protected areas and quantifying key information about restoration opportunities in areas earmarked for offshore energy developments and those used for fishing. This will provide the foundation for further assessment into the trade-offs between these multiple uses in the UKs marine environment.
Aims/methods: This project aims to map areas suitable for marine habitat creation and restoration in the UK’s waters and explore potential synergies and conflicts with marine protected areas, blue carbon, areas earmarked for infrastructure development, and fishing activities. This research will be desk based with a focus on spatial data manipulation and analysis. The first step will be to create maps of where habitat creation and restoration can occur based on overlaying numerous spatial layers and using a set of rules derived from the literature. The next step is overlay additional data such as marine protected areas, energy infrastructure, and the UK’s blue carbon map to generate key statistics.
Black-tailed godwit egg laying cues
Egg laying cues of black-tailed godwits are not well understood. Narrowing down the environmental and/or social cues that determine breeding timing could inform management measures as early laying increases breeding productivity.
Project coordinator: chris.batey@rspb.org.uk
Project type: MSC Analytical
Background and Conservation case: The timing of when birds breed is important to ensure they maximise their chances of breeding successfully. Birds can adjust their timing of breeding, for example to match with availability of resources or to minimise predation risk. Once egg laying starts, birds’ ability to adjust subsequent timings such as hatching is limited, and so timing is often studied by determining the egg laying cues. These cues can be directly and indirectly related to environmental factors including temperature and vegetation growth, and from social cues. Many populations show a large variation in laying date, including the study species of this project: the black-tailed godwit.
Recovery of the small UK population of black-tailed godwit (<50 pairs, centred on the Fens in Eastern England) is constrained by high nest and chick predation rates. Despite the recent conservation success of a headstarting programme, breeding productivity remains at levels below that required for long term population stability.
Aims/methods: This desk-based project aims to identify the key environmental and social factors influencing the breeding timing of black-tailed godwits in the Fens at the population and individual level. Godwit nest data (hundreds of nest records) collected across > 10 study years from the Nene Washes and Ouse Washes are available, with a subset of the data including individual IDs.
Determinants of godwit re-nesting.
Birds that experience high levels of nest predation can have many nesting attempts. This project uses nest and individual field data to parameterise re-nesting models to understand the probability of black-tailed godwit re-nesting under different ecological contexts, to inform conservation management.
Project coordinator: malcolm.burgess@rspb.org.uk
Background and Conservation case: Birds that experience high levels of nest predation can have many nesting attempts, even species that are considered single-brooded, but the number may depend on ecological context. Productivity models that account for re-nesting have been developed to estimate whole season productivity, and these can be used to examine re-nesting probabilities in relation to the factors that may influence them. For example, re-nesting probability may vary depending on female age or past breeding experience, the causes of nest failure, seasonality, or predator density. Models that consider re-nesting can produce more accurate productivity estimates than models that don’t. This project will determine re-nesting probabilities for a range of scenarios using rich data from a long-term Black-tailed godwit project of multiple nesting attempts over entire breeding seasons along with detailed information from colour marked individuals that together provides information to parameterise re-nesting models using an existing framework. Recovery of the small UK population of black-tailed godwit (<50 pairs, centred on the Fens in Eastern England) is constrained by high nest and chick predation rates. Being able to estimate re-nesting probabilities and whole season productivity under different scenarios can inform ongoing conservation work.
Aims/methods: This project parameterises and runs re-nesting models from field data to determine patterns of re-nesting in relation to past breeding experience, predation risk (by comparing nests within and outside predator exclusion fences), rearing history (head started compared to wild hatched) and cause and stage of nest failure. Godwit nest data (hundreds of nest records including timings and fates) collected across 9 years from the Nene Washes and Ouse Washes are available. All data is ready for analysis.
Wader nest survival on Uist machair
Machair grassland of the Outer Hebrides is one of the most important habitats for UK breeding waders. This fieldwork project will monitor nest survival of breeding waders on Benbecula to assess rates of predation and the importance of different predator species, particularly introduced hedgehogs.
Project lead: lucy.mason@rspb.org.uk
Project Type: MSc Field Research
Requirements: Student will need to organise and cover the cost of their own travel to Uist, accommodation on-island and subsistence for the duration of fieldwork. Fieldwork will be intensive and often involve working alone on machair grassland on the Uists, so the student will need to be comfortable working in isolation and able to successfully organise their own time. research to take place from April/May-July 2025
Background and conservation case: Machair grassland of the Uists in the Outer Hebrides is an internationally important habitat supporting one of the densest concentrations of breeding waders found anywhere in the UK, with a unique assemblage of species including Lapwing, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. Regular surveys of machair breeding waders since the 1980s have identified considerable declines in both their abundance and range. These declines are partly linked to the introduction and subsequent population expansion of hedgehogs to the islands (where previously they did not occur), driving low wader breeding success through high levels of nest predation. The Uist Native Wildlife Project (UNWP) plans to remove the introduced hedgehog population by live trapping and translocation over the next several years, starting on the island of Benbecula. To assess the success of this translocation project we need up-to-date wader nest survival estimates for Benbecula to determine the existing impacts of hedgehog predation, and to provide a baseline against which nest survival after hedgehog removal can be compared.
Aims/methods: The aim of this project is to monitor nests of waders breeding on machair and farmland habitats on Benbecula to assess rates of predation, particularly from hedgehogs, and to identify the relative importance of different nest predators. Fieldwork and data collection will involve: i) nest finding and marking (involves scanning of fields, watching of adult behaviour and/or cold searching); ii) installing trail cameras at nests to collect footage of predation events, examining camera footage to identify timing of predation and predator species; iii) regular monitoring of all nests every few days to determine nest fate (hatching, predation, failure for other reasons); iv) basic habitat assessments at and around nest sites; v) surveys of adult waders to count breeding pairs and estimate territory success.
Rapid habitat surveys with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
UAVs are increasingly being used to monitor habitat condition, but this technology is in it's infancy. Focusing on lowland wet grasslands this project will i) train a habitat classifier ii) compare this approach to traditional habitat surveys and iii) relate resultant metrics to policy interventions.
Project lead: robert.hawkes@rspb.org.uk
Project type: MSc Field Research
Key Skills needed: 1) ability to work with spatial data in of R and (ideally also) Arc/QGIS is essential; 2) some equipment (high precision GPS) will need to be secured ahead of fieldwork 3) Full driving license and own transport necessary.
Background and conservation case: Novel remote sensing technologies are increasingly being used to produce biodiversity and habitat metrics. If implemented corrected these methods could revolutionise the way that flagship biodiversity polices, such as agri-environment schemes and biodiversity net gain, are monitored. Conservationists are increasingly using freely available satellite data to achieve this objective; however, whilst satellite resolution has improved markedly over the past decade, the imagery is too coarse (10 m) to capture fine scale habitat condition proxies. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can achieve much high pixel resolutions (1-2 cm) and are increasingly being used to address this issue, but we currently lack post-flight analytical (AI) pipelines to facilitate rapid metric generation. One habitat where this approach would be particularly useful is lowland wet grassland, where habitats are intensively managed to achieve optimal conditions for bereding waders and wider biodiversity. The outcomes of this project will not only have direct implications for the aforementioned policies, but will also allow site managers to rapidly identify where habitat improvements need to occur.
Aims/methods: The aim of this project is threefold, though two and three are optional. First, you will collect detailed habitat data alongside a planned programme of UAV flights so you can train an AI image classifier and derive key habitat metrics. Second, to establish whether UAV surveys offer a marked improvement (accuracy) over traditional methods, you will compare your AI derived metrics to rapid habitat condition surveys. Third, to demonstrate links to policy, you will explore whether fields with certain policy interventions (e.g. AES) show a marked improvement in habitat quality. Methodology: you will collect fine-scale habitat data in the field using a high precision GPS system. The UAV flights will be flown across the same fields by the RSPB though another project; however, if this project doesn’t go ahead, you may need to run a limited number of flights.
Wader nest survival and predator activity on Strathspey farmland
Farmland in the Spey Valley supports a large population of breeding waders which are under pressure from habitat degradation, changes in land use, agricultural operations, human disturbance and predation. This fieldwork project will monitor nest survival of breeding waders and the activity of key predator species on farmland in Strathspey to assess rates of predation and the importance of different predators.
Project type: MSc Field research
Background and conservation case: Farmland in the Spey Valley supports a large and important population of breeding waders such as Lapwing, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Snipe and Curlew. Several landscape-scale surveys have indicated that the breeding population of these species in the area is declining, likely as a result of low breeding success driven by a combination of habitat degradation, changes in land-use, agricultural operations, human disturbance and predation. Our understanding of the rates of nest loss in this landscape is poor however, with only limited nest survival monitoring conducted on farmland to date. A new landscape-wide wader survey is planned for spring/summer 2025. Alongside this survey, we need to better understand rates of nest survival and the causes of nest loss, particularly predation. It is also important to assess how nest loss to predation is linked to patterns of predator activity around a site, and how this in turn relates to the availability of other key prey species for those predators, such as voles.
Aims/Methods: The aim of this project is to monitor wader nest survival, predator activity and alternative prey abundance on farmland in Strathspey. Fieldwork and data collection will likely involve: i) nest finding and marking (involves scanning of fields, watching of adult behaviour and/or cold searching); ii) installing trail cameras at nests to collect footage of predation events, examining camera footage to identify timing of predation and predator species; iii) regular monitoring of all nests every few days to determine nest fate (hatching, predation, failure for other reasons); iv) surveys of adult waders to count breeding pairs and estimate territory success; v) predator surveys (such as scat surveys for fox, timed watches for avian predators, latrine and sett surveys or trail cameras for badgers, tracking tunnels for stoats/weasels, trail cameras for wild cats); vi) vole sign surveys (vole signs in vegetation, tracking tunnels); vii) assessments of habitat condition for breeding waders and voles and mapping of access points for predators around study site(s).
Additional information: We can provide a small number of trail cameras (c. 20) for nest monitoring, as well as support from local RSPB staff and volunteers. The student will require binoculars and ideally a telescope - these could potentially be provided by RSPB if necessary. Training in nest finding and monitoring will be provided. The student will be working as part of a team with other fieldworkers. Student will need to organise and cover the cost of their own accommodation, subsistence and travel for the duration of fieldwork
Bird populations at Wild Haweswater
At Wild Haweswater we use birds as one of our indicators of change. This project focuses on the analysis of our ~20 year bird point-count dataset to explore changes in our bird populations. This project can include fieldwork in April and May, but it can also be purely analytical. accommodation is provided if fieldwork is undertaken.
Project lead: mo.verhoeven@rspb.org.uk
Project type: MSc Analytics and/or MSc Field research
Key skills needed: If the student wants to participate with the fieldwork, then they must be fairly proficient at identifying bird species from audio and visual cues. This is not required if the student only wants to work on the analysis of the ~20 year dataset.
Background and conservation case: Wild Haweswater is a working farm located in the Eastern Fells of the Lake District. We use birds as one of the indicators to track changes in our landscape such as restoration efforts. Our dataset covers the period in which our farm transitioned from hill farming with high densities of sheep into lower stocking densities that now include cattle. At the same time, we have planted many trees while the old growth forest has become even older.
Aims/methods: We want to analyse our ~25 year point-count dataset to explore changes in our bird populations. This will help us with making our management and conservation decisions. It will also help us to share changes, both good and bad, with our community.
Whinchat and habitat patterns in Welsh reserves
Whinchat are declining across the UK and we wish to understand how habitat management could benefit this species. This project would involve field work re-surveying sites and surveying new ones to measure change and set a baseline against management interventions.
Project lead: michael.macdonald@rspb.org.uk
Key skills needed: Student must be willing to work in remote areas; good analytical skills useful. Student must hold a full driving license and have access to a vehicle.
Background and conservation case: Whinchat have declined by 60% in the UK since 1995, with declines apparently driven by insufficient productivity, although suitable breeding habitat does not appear to be limiting (Stanbury et al 2021). At RSPB reserves in Wales we want to understand what management might be most suitable for this species.
Aims/methods: At two reserves in mid-Wales we have bird and habitat data collected in 2016 at territory and unoccupied locations, while at another (Gwenffrwd Dinas), we have non-systematic data on distribution of Whinchats across habitats, including areas where we wish to implement sympathetic management. We propose to carry out repeat surveys at one or both of the previously-surveyed reserves to measure change over time, and to carry out the same surveys at Gwenffrwd Dinas. The latter will help us to understand the spatial differences at this site and act as a baseline for future monitoring once management has taken place. Other sites within and outside the RSPB estate could also be considered.
Understanding the conservation impact of RSPB reserves on species
To assess how nature reserves impact species, we need to compare populations within and outside reserves. This project will collate species monitoring data overlapping RSPB reserves and identify a specific hypothesis to test, e.g., do butterflies or wetland birds have greater abundances or more positive population trends on reserves compared to a matched counterfactual.
Project lead: Simone.mordue@rspb.org.uk
Project type; MSc analytical
Background and Conservation case: The proposed project aims to better understand RSPB reserves and their impact on conservation efforts. Our current reserves reporting shows that populations of many of our priority species are stabilising or increasing on our reserves. But, in order to fully understand how reserves are impacting species we need to understand how populations would be changing were the reserves not there, in other words we need to compare populations within and outside of reserves. Our reserves are also likely having beneficial impacts on many aspects of biodiversity outside of the suite of RSPB priority species they are specifically managed for, but at present we do not fully understand these impacts, and therefore cannot seek to maximise them nor communicate them to our supporters and others.
Aims/methods: This project aims to 1) Describe the taxonomic, temporal and spatial distribution of monitoring data available to understand the impact of the presence and management of the RSPB reserves network. This will be done by gathering various monitoring data sets and overlaying them with the RSPB reserve network to create a dataset/species/reserve matrix. 2) Use the collated dataset to determine a specific targetted hypothesis to understand the impact of reserves on a particular taxonomic group, habitat type or management approach. Potential examples include: are species abundances or population trends higher within RSPB nature reserves compared to a matched counterfactual sample outside of reserves for widespread butterflies, or, does wetland management support higher densities or more positive population trends of wintering wetland birds on RSPB reserves than in a matched counterfactual sample outside of reserves?
MSc projects in Scotland's temperate rainforest
The Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest research working group are also advertising ideas for MSc projects relating to temperate rainforest in Scotland.
Contact: lucy.mason@rspb.org.uk
The RSPB is a part of the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, a voluntary partnership of organisations with a shared interest in helping Scotland’s rainforest to thrive once again. Saving Scotland’s Rainforest is a project led by the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest to protect and restore this globally important habitat.
Please apply direct here