Dr Aliénor Chauvenet

Curriculum Vitae:

• 2009-current: PhD student at the Institute of Zoology and Imperial College of London. Supervised by Nathalie Pettorelli (IOZ), John Ewen (IOZ), Tim Blackburn (IOZ), Tim Coulson (Imperial College) and Doug Armstrong (Massey University). Funded by AXA Research Fund.
  

• 2009: 5 month project on cheetah population dynamic modelling supervised by Nathalie Pettorelli (IOZ), Sarah Durant (IOZ) and Tim Coulson (Imperial College).
• 2008-2009: Masters in Conservation Science at the Imperial College of London.
• 2007–2008: 5 month internship with Hugh Possingham (University of Queensland, Australia) in continuation with the project on optimal resources allocation modelling.
• 2007: 10 months project on optimal resources allocation modelling with Hugh Possingham, Peter Baxter and Eve McDonald-Madden (University of Queensland, Australia).
• 2003-2007: B.Sc.(Hons) in ecology at the University of Queensland, Australia and the Euro-American Institute of Technology, France.
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Research Interests:

My project focuses on modelling the dynamics of translocated population, exploring how translocations can be used as a conservation tool to mitigate the impact of climate change on biodiversity. My study species is the New Zealand endemic hihi (Notiomystis cincta) which, in the last 30 years, has been reintroduced to several islands and monitored consistently.

I will:

• investigate which factors (biological, climatic, management) affect hihi survival and reproduction rates
• study the relative contributions of different demographic rates to variation in hihi population growth rate
• look at how projected changes in climate variables are likely to influence population demographic rates and hence population growth rate
• design a best modelling approach for capturing demographic rates under a changing climate e.g. select suitable sites for translocation, have a robust strategy for implementation (including founder number, sex ratio and age structure)
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Publications:

Chauvenet, A.L.M., Ewen, J.G., Armstrong, D.P., Blackburn, T.M. & Pettorelli, N. (in press) Maximising the success of assisted colonisation. Animal Conservation.

Chauvenet, A.L.M., Ewen, J.G., Armstrong, D.P., Coulson, T., Blackburn, T.M., Adams, L., Walker, L.K. & Pettorelli, N. (2012) Does supplemental feeding affect the viability of translocated populations? The example of the hihi. Animal Conservation 15:337-350. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00522.x

English, A.K., Chauvenet, A.L.M., Safi, K. & Pettorelli, N. (2012) Reassessing the Determinants of Breeding Synchrony in Ungulates. PloS One 7(7): e41444.

Pettorelli N., Chauvenet, A.L.M., Duffy, J.P., Cornforth, W.A., Meillere A. & Baillie, J.E.M. (2012) Tracking the effect of climate change on ecosystem functioning using protected areas: Africa as a case study. Ecological Indicators 20:269-276.

Chauvenet, A.L.M., Durant, S.M., Hilborn, R. & Pettorelli, N. (2011) Unintended Consequences of Conservation Actions: Managing Disease in Complex Ecosystems. PLoS ONE 6(12): e28671. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0028671

Chauvenet, A.L.M., Baxter, P.W.J., McDonald-Madden, E. & Possingham, H.P. (2010) Optimal allocation of conservation effort among subpopulations of a threatened species: How important is patch quality? Ecological Applications 20(3): 789-797.