Welcome to ERT - the independent ecological research
and training group directed byDr Mark O'Connell
Our work is focused on:
Assessing thestateof the environment (numbers, diversity, distribution & trends)
Evaluating how human activity results in pressureon natural systems
Generating optimal, cost-effective and sustainableresponses(including capacity building and training),and evaluating their long-term outcomes
***Latest ERT News***
ERT's INTERNATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING CONFERENCE: In February, ERT ran a major international conference on building capacity for conservation. The meeting was attended by 200 delegates and took place in Villa de Leyva, Colombia. The meeting discussed best practice from a range of initiatives around the world, and included workshops on key conservation tools and issues. The conference website can be seen here.. The conference proceedings will be delivered by ERT's Director (Mark O'Connell) and Colombian colleague Jorge Parra, as the first definitive book on capacity building for conservation. This will be published by Pelagic Publishing.A short film on the key issues of capacity building is also being produced in association with Plastic Buddha Productions, and sponsored by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
NEW ERT PUBLICATION: A new paper on the diversity of the world's inland breeding waterbirds has just been accepted for publication in the journal Biodiversity & Conservation. ERT's director is one of seven collaborating co-authors from an international range of organisations. The research has located global diversity hotspots for waterbirds, and identified regions where coverage by protected area networks is poor for threatened species. See publication list here.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS: As part of ERT's commitment to developing and supporting the next generation of conservation scientists and ecologists, Dr Mark O'Connell has been contracted by the University of Bath to run five courses in 2013. The courses are for 1st, 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates within Bath's Biology and Natural Sciences programmes.
SEC1 PROCEEDINGS: In April 2013, manuscripts from ERT's international conference on Spatial Ecology & Conservation will be published as special edition of Ecological Informatics. A second meeting (SEC2) is being organised for the end of 2013. See the conference website.
RESEARCH & MONITORING TRAINING FOR LOCAL PRACTITIONERS:As part of our five year funding from Wessex Water, in March and May of 2013, ERT is running research and monitoring training for 35 conservation practitioners in the SW region of the UK. The current focus is on statistical analysis of conservation data. See the project website here...
GIS COURSE FOR CONSERVATION: Between 1st and 6th of April, ERT is running its fifth GIS course for conservation professionals from around the world. The training event is part of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's long-standing DESMAN course. Photo....
ERT JOINS EU FUNDED MAREN PROJECT: A major international collaboration (MAREN) has been funded by the EU. The project is providing information to stakeholders on the renewable energy potential of areas along the European western seaboard using different generation technologies. ERT will provide the project with a range of environmental inputs and evaluation, and facilitate interaction between the ecological, engineering and commercial stakeholders.
HONDURAN FIELD COURSE: In September 2013, ERT will run its 6th ecological field course to the cloud forests of Honduras with undergraduate students from Bath University.
Training &
Education
ERT offers training and capacity building services for professionals within the ecological sector. We also train the next generation of scientists within higher education, and provide access to ecology-related studies for ecological volunteers.
Our training & education services include:
Professional ecology training & capacity building
Assessment of training & capacity needs for individuals, departments and organisations.
Development of bespoke, long-term and cost-effective training solutions with an emphasis on economies of scale.
Ecology & Higher Education
Lectures and curriculum development for a wide range of ecological, conservation, statistical and environmental courses.
Logistics and curriculum for international field courses.
Undergraduate and postgraduate project supervision.
Work experience for under- and post-graduate students.
Ecological volunteers
Easily understood data analysis courses.
Ecology field skills e.g. identification, sampling, tracking, etc.
Ecological
Research
Wherever possible, environmental protection, management, planningand policy should be based on robust scientific evidence. ERT uses a broad range of analytical research tools to underpin actions and solutions in the environment sector.
Our ecological research services include:
Field data collection
Statistical design of field survey, census and monitoring activities.
Design and logistics for behavioural and autecology studies.
Data collection and monitoring for range of species and habitats.
Animal tracking: designing, supporting and undertaking radio or satellite telemetry studies.
Ecological data management
Development of user-friendly relational databases.
Conversion of data for access and analysis within Geographic Information Systems (ArcInfo and IDRISI).
Ecological data analysis
ERT has the capacity to undertake or advise upon the analysis of environmental data using a wide range of techniques. These include:
All standard correlational, regressive and compositional statistics.
Spatial statistics within GIS (kriging, spatial autocorrelation, probability based habitat suitability mapping, etc).
Trend and change analyses for animal populations, habitats and landscapes. This includes the analysis of long-term species or habitat monitoring data, and the development of biodiversity and vegetation indices.
Modelling species and habitat distributions in relation to environmental and human influences using a range of techniques (Maximum Entropy, GLMs, GAMMs, etc).
Research design
Advice on data collection, analysis and interpretation for new projects and funding proposals. This includes designing and integrating research methods to allow actions to be evaluated and then used in adaptive management and identifying best practice.
How to prepare your research for scientific publication or dissemination within the environment & ecology sector.
