Daniella Rabaiotti

PhD student

Qualifications:

BSC Hons Zoology, MRes Biodiversity and Conservation

Curriculum Vitae:

2009-2012: BSC Zoology University of Bristol
2012-2013: MRes Biodiversity and Conservation University of Leeds
2015-present: NERC London DTP PhD student working on the effect of climate change on African wild dogs, Supervisors: Rosie Woodroffe (IoZ) and Richard Pearson (UCL)

Background:

I studied my undergraduate course in Zoology at the university of Bristol, where I worked on bat flight dynamics and urban fox territory use. This was where I found discovered an interest in mammals, with a particular focus on bats.

I went on to do two research projects at Leeds on bats, one mapping habitat suitability in the Yorkshire Dales using GIS, and a second based in the Taita hills in Kenya looking at bat diversity and abundance in a smallholder farmland landscape.

I obtained a place on the London NERC DTP PhD programme the following year, and began my current research in March 2015 following the taught section of the programme.

Research Interests:

My current research focuses on modelling the impacts of climate change on the African wild dog. This involves using GPS collars to monitor wild dog behaviours, as well as modelling behavioural and population shifts resulting from increasing temperatures.

My key research interests around this topic are population modelling, correlative and mechanistic species distribution models, climate change impacts and African mammal conservation.

On top of this I am keenly interested in science and conservation policy, and am undertaking an internship in the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology from September this year. I have retained an interest in all things bat related, especially tropical bat identification and impacts of habitat fragmentation.