Main
Stephen D. Gregory
I am a conservation biologist. I use population modelling to understand and propose management actions to conserve animal populations under global change, from native Galapagos rodents to Malaysian orangutans. My research has included fisheries metapopulation modelling, spatial population dynamics and effects of connectivity, susceptibility of social species (particularly bats) to Allee effects, and effects of Allee effects on population extinction dynamics. Please see my website for more details.
Relevant positions Cefas Senior Statistician (statistics); GWCT Research Scientist (fisheries); GWCT postdoc (fisheries & statistics); Adelaide Uni postdoc (ecology & statistics); Paris Sud XI PhD (ecology & statistics); Oxford Uni MSc by research (ecology); WildCRU research assistant; UNEP-WCMC information officer; Swansea Uni BSc (zoology)
Professional appointments ICES Working Group for North Atlantic Salmon (WGNAS); ICES Workshop for North Atlantic Salmon At-Sea Mortality (WKSalmon); National Centre for Statistical Ecology (NCSE) member; Royal Statistical Society (RSS) felllow
Professional outputs 38 publications (including 7 last year); 54 pre-publication reviews for 28 journals; 20 major presentations
Supervision 1 PhD; 3 MSc; 2 BSc
Grants Over 65K in grants for my own research
Census techniques Electro-fishing and aquatic biodiversity surveys (GWCT); biodiversity inventory in New Caledonia (ESE); radio-tracking and vegetation surveys in Gal
Statistics Extensive programming & statistics (GLM, GLMM, GAM) in R & various Bayesian languages, including JAGS, Stan and Julia
Public relations UNEP-WCMC information officer; English Nature volunteer
Transferable skills Conversant in French, basic Spanish; advanced computer use; Windows and *nix operating systems
Education
PhD., Ecology and Statistics
Universit
France
2010 - 2007
- Thesis: Detection of demographic Allee effects
- Supervisor: Franck Courchamp
M.Res., Ecology
University of Oxford
UK
2006 - 2005
- Thesis: Interspecific overlap in resource and space use of the endemic Santiago Rice rat and the invasive Black rat on Santiago, Galapagos
- Supervisor: David W. Macdonald
B.Sc., Zoology
University of Wales, Swansea
UK
1999 - 1996
- Thesis: The feeding behaviour of the Lesser Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros
Research Experience
Senior statistician
Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences
UK
Current - 2021
- Provision of robust and rapid statistical advice for proposed and existing research projects tackling comtemporary issue in the aquatic environment around the UK and overseas. Requires extensive statistical knowledge, well-honed skills in organisation (e.g., IT skills, document management), planning (e.g., fieldwork, health and safety), time management (e.g., grant and publishing deadlines), communication (e.g., supervisor meetings, research presentations) and all the skills necessary to complete and publish high-impact peer-reviewed scientific research (statistical analysis, data and bibliography management and scientific writing).
Fisheries scientist and statistician
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
UK
2021 - 2015
- Involved developing, managing and completing projects with national and international government and non-government collaborators. Focused on population dynamics under environmental change and the mitigation of undesirable outcomes. Involved well-honed skills in organisation (e.g., IT skills, document management), planning (e.g., fieldwork, health and safety), time management (e.g., grant and publishing deadlines), communication (e.g., supervisor meetings, research presentations) and all the skills necessary to complete and publish high-impact peer-reviewed scientific research (statistical analysis, data and bibliography management and scientific writing).
Postdoctoral fisheries research scientist
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
UK
2015 - 2013
- Focused on Bayesian modelling of salmon population census using automatic fish counters and explaining long-term trends in UK and French juvenile salmon lengths from extrinsic factors, such as river flow and water temperature. Involves spatially- and temporally-explicit statistics, Bayesian MCMC, model selection, bibliography management and scientific writing.
Postdoctoral fellow
Global Ecology Lab, University of Adelaide
Australia
2013 - 2010
- Extending second generation species distribution models (those integrating spatially structured metapopulation demographic models and conventional species distribution models) to incorporate within range demographic variation caused by range limiting factors, such as species interactions and changing substrate. Involves spatially- and temporally-explicit statistics, Bayesian MCMC, model selection, bibliography management and scientific writing.
PhD in Ecology & Statistics
Ecologie, Syst
France
2010 - 2007
- Involved fitting population dynamical models to very large time series databases and huge spatio-temporal datasets. Skills learnt include: planning and organisation (Gantt & version control), teamwork (international collaborations), concise scientific writing (publishing & reports), data presentation techniques (boxplots, scatterplots, etc.), various statistic tests (univariate and multivariate GLM, GLMM and GAM, bootstrap, randomisation, PCA, AIC and derivatives), programming (mostly R, but also SQL and PhP), dynamic HTML markup and bibliography management.
MSc by Research in Ecology
Wildlife Conservation Research Centre, University of Oxford
UK
2006 - 2005
- Investigated overlap in resource and space use of sympatric native and invasive rats in their natural environment. Involved long and difficult fieldwork, night work, and spatial and statistical analysis using bootstrap and permutations.
WildCRU and CDRS field assistant
Charles Darwin Research Station, Galapagos Islands
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
2005 - 2002
- Full time field assistant entailing long periods of remote work, radio telemetry, habitat surveying, live-trapping, blood, faeces and ectoparasite sampling, and Spanish.
WildCRU volunteer
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
UK
2002
- Part time volun teering on several projects from Grevys zebra censusing to organising a meeting to review UK preparations for RIO+10.
Institute of Zoology & Oxford Brookes field assistant
IoZ, London, and Colobus Conservation, Diani Beac
Kenya
2001
- Nocturnal Galagos surveys for a study of<U+00A0>Colobus angolensis palliatus<U+00A0>metapopulation dynamics in Kenya requiring extensive orienteering and GPS use, working alone and Swahili.
Volunteer Garden Watch Survey analysis
Cambridge Wildlife Trust, Cambridge
UK
2001
- Multivariate statistical analysis of over 500 public survey results.
Assistant librarian & Information officer
UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge
UK
2001 - 2000
- Entailed answering academic enquiries, providing research support to programmes and compiling databases of biodiversity data. Chaired <U+0093>Lunch-time Talks<U+0094> and managed a small team of office volunteers.
Hadlow College of Agriculture and Horticulture course
Hadlow College, Kent
UK
1996
- Attended a agronomy course.
English Nature volunteer
English Nature, Kent
UK
1995
- Work experience participating in biodiversity surveys, environmental management techniques and database management.
Grants
Grayling Research Trust & Piscatorial Society
Awarded 24K for a Post-doc
N/A
2020
Grayling Research Trust, Piscatorial Society & Wessex Water
Awarded 12K for a Post-doc
N/A
2019
Bournemouth University
Awarded 25K for a PhD student
N/A
2017
Grayling Research Trust
Awarded 4K for a Post-doc
N/A
2016
University of Adelaide
Overseas Conference Scheme
N/A
2011
British Ecological Society
Travel grant
N/A
2009
James Teacher Memorial Grant
MRes research
N/A
2001
Teaching Experience
Josh Cook
MSc with Ben Ciotti and Martin Attrill
University of Plymouth
2021 - 2020
- Effects of sea conditions and migration distance on population and individual characteristics of Atlantic salmon returning to European rivers
Olivia Simmons
PhD with Rob Britton and Pippa Gillingham
University of Bournemouth
2021 - 2018
- Predicting the implications of changes in migration phenology for the conservation of Atlantic salmon.
Alexander Harris
MSc with Guy Woodward
Imperial College London
2019 - 2018
- Size matters: Freshwater migration behaviour and loss rate of two Salmonids in a chalk stream.
Statistics in R course
2 x 1hr courses
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
2016
- Given to Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Staff.
Jacopo Cerri
N/A
Erasmus scheme
2015 - 2014
- Factors influencing the overwinter survival of age 0 parr to age 1 smolts.
Elinor Parry
MSc with Sian Griffiths
University of Wales, Cardiff
2015
- The effect of climate-driven low flow on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) redd distribution in a UK chalkstream.
Felicity Lowther
BSc with Paul Carling
University of Southampton
2014
- A study of the effect of environmental factors on the size distribution of migrating Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar) in the River Frome, Dorset.
Ecology in English course
1 x 45m course
University of Paris XI
2009
- Given to BSc students.
Selected Talks
Producing the next generation: Improving smolt output with examples from the R. Frome
Institute of Fisheries Management Festival of Fisheries
Zoom
2020
- International Conference
- Invited talk
What are we learning about the R. Frome salmon?
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Staff Conference
Zoom
2020
Likely Suspects Framework & GWCT research
Atlantic Salmon Trust and Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
Wareham, UK
2019
Is bigger better? Longer Atlantic salmon smolts return as adults
International Workshop on Statistical Modelling
University of Bristol, UK
2018
- International Conference
Length of Atlantic salmon smolt and their subsequent marine survival
Fisheries Society of the British Isles Annual Meeting
University of Exeter, UK
2017
- International Conference
- Talk and poster
Length of Atlantic salmon smolt and their subsequent marine survival
Atlantic Salmon Trust Headwaters to Headlands
Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK
2017
- International Conference
- In AST Blue Book
Length of Atlantic salmon smolt and their subsequent marine survival
ICES Annual Scientific Conference
Riga, Latvia
2016
- International Conference
Wylye Grayling Study
Grayling Society Annual Symposium
Wrexham, UK
2016
- Invited talk
Analyses of telemetry data from migrating fish
Institute of Fisheries Management 2nd Tagging and Telemetry Conference
University of Edinburgh, UK
2016
- International Conference
Estimating returning salmon stocks
Wessex Conservation Forum
University of Bournemouth, UK
2015
- Invited talk
Wylye Grayling Long-Term Study
Piscatorial Society Fly Day
Salisbury, UK
2014
- Invited talk
Towards a ‘standard’ salmon stock monitoring programme
Institute of Fisheries Management Tagging and Telemetry Conference
Leeds, UK
2014
- International Conference
Smolt counting with confidence (limits)
Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre and IFM Smolt Monitoring Workshop
Melrose, UK
2014
- Poster
Salmon Research at GWCT
Dorset Chalk Stream Club Christmas Meeting
Dorset, UK
2013
- Public engagement
Orangutan persistence under global change - conservation needs
Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting
Auckland, New Zealand
2011
- International Conference
Bat roost dynamics
Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting
Beijing, China
2009
- International Conference
Bats and Allee effects
PhD Student Conference
Universit
2009
- Best talk prize
Demographic Allee effects: What are they and how common are they?
Student Conference for Conservation Science
University of Cambridge, UK
2009
- International Conference
A prickly case of coexistence? Or a blunt case of competition?
Student Conference for Conservation Science
University of Cambridge, UK
2007
- International Conference
- Poster
Selected Publications
Density dependence and environmental variability have stage-specific influences on European Grayling growth.
Marsh, J. E., R. J. Cove, J. R. Britton, et al. Oecologia, p. accepted.
N/A
2022
Growth during the first summer at sea modulates sex-specific maturation schedule in Atlantic salmon
Trehin, C., E. Rivot, L. Lamireau, et al. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 78:659-669. DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2020-0236.
N/A
2021
Medium-term environmental changes impact age-specific survival in a salmonid population near its southern range limit
Marsh, J. E., R. J. Cove, J. R. Britton, et al. Freshwater Biology 66.8, pp. 1530-1545. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13736.
N/A
2021
High summer macrophyte cover increases abundance,growth and feeding of juvenile Atlantic salmon
Marsh, J. E., R. B. Lauridsen, S. D. Gregory, et al. Ecological Applications, p. in press. DOI: 10.1002/eap.2492.
N/A
2021
Biological and environmental influences on the migration phenology of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in a chalk stream in southern England
Simmons, O. M., S. D. Gregory, P. K. Gillingham, et al. Freshwater Biology 66.8, pp. 1581-1594. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13776.
N/A
2021
Warm winters and cool springs negatively influence recruitment of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in a southern England chalk stream
Marsh, J. E., R. B. Lauridsen, W. D. Riley, et al. Journal of Fish Biology 99.3, pp. 1125-1129. ISSN: 1095-8649. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13736.
N/A
2021
Predicting how environmental conditions and smolt body length when entering the marine environment impact individual Atlantic salmon Salmo salar adult return rates
Simmons, O. M., J. R. Britton, P. K. Gillingham, et al. Journal of Fish Biology, p. in press. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14946.
N/A
2021
Can aspects of the discharge regime associated with juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and trout (S. trutta L.) densities be identified using historical monitoring data from five UK rivers?
Gillson, J. P., D. L. Maxwell, S. D. Gregory, et al. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 27:567-579. DOI: 10.1111/fme.12456.
N/A
2020
Environmental conditions modify density-dependent salmonid recruitment: Insights into the 2016 recruitment crash in Wales
Gregory, S. D., V. E. Bewes, A. J. H. Davey, et al. Freshwater Biology, 65:2135-2153. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13609.
N/A
2020
Above parr: Lowland river habitat characteristics associated with higher juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (S. trutta) densities
Marsh, J. E., R. B. Lauridsen, S. D. Gregory, et al. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 29:542-556. DOI: 10.1111/eff.12529.
N/A
2020
Influence of environmental and biological factors on the overwinter growth rate of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar parr in a UK chalk stream
Simmons, O. M., J. R. Britton, P. K. Gillingham, et al. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 29:665-678. DOI: 10.1111/eff.12542.
N/A
2020
Atlantic salmon return rate increases with smolt length
Gregory, S. D., A. T. Ibbotson, W. D. Riley, et al. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 76:1702-1712. DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsz066.
N/A
2019
Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon (WGNAS).
Ahlbeck-Bergendahl, I., J. April, H. Bardarson, et al.
N/A
2019
Roles of discharge and temperature in recruitment of a cold-water fish, the European grayling Thymallus thymallus, near its southern range limit
Basic, T., J. R. Britton, R. J. Cove, et al. Ecology Freshwater Fish, 27:940-951. DOI: 10.1111/eff.12405.
N/A
2018
Is bigger really better? Towards improved models for testing how Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolt size affects marine survival
Gregory, S. D., J. D. Armstrong, and J. R. Britton Journal of Fish Biology, 92:579-592. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13550.
N/A
2018
Could bigger be better? Longer Atlantic salmon smolts seem more likely to return as adults
Gregory, S. D. IWSM 2018 Proceedings. Vol. 1., :112-117.
N/A
2018
The effects of flow on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) redd distribution in a UK chalk stream between 1980 and 2015
Parry, E. S., S. D. Gregory, R. B. Lauridsen, et al. Ecology Freshwater Fish, 27:128-137. DOI: 10.1111/eff.12330.
N/A
2018
Under what circumstances does the capture and tagging of wild Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts affect probability of return as adults?
Riley, W. D., A. T. Ibbotson, S. D. Gregory, et al. Journal of Fish Biology, 93:477-489. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13655.
N/A
2018
Patterns on a parr: Drivers of long-term salmon parr length in U.K. and French rivers depend on geographical scale
Gregory, S. D., M. Nevoux, W. D. Riley, et al. Freshwater Biology, 62:1117-1129. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.12929.
N/A
2017
Migration behaviour and loss rate of trout smolts in the transitional zone between freshwater and saltwater
Lauridsen, R. B., A. Moore, S. D. Gregory, et al. Proceedings of the Second International Sea Trout Symposium.
N/A
2017
Forecasts of habitat suitability improve habitat corridor efficacy in rapidly changing environments
Gregory, S. D., M. Ancrenaz, B. W. Brook, et al. Diversity and Distributions, 20:1044-1057. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12208.
N/A
2014
Eradications of vertebrate pests in Australia: A review and guidelines for future best practice.
Gregory, S. D., W. Henderson, E. Smee, et al.
N/A
2014
Rapid deforestation threatens mid-elevational endemic birds but climate change is most important at higher elevations
Harris, J. B. C., D. Dwi Putra, S. D. Gregory, et al. Diversity and Distributions, 20:773-785. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12180.
N/A
2014
The influence of non-climate predictors at local and landscape resolutions depends on the autecology of the species
Harris, D. B., S. D. Gregory, B. W. Brook, et al. Austral Ecology, 39:710-721. DOI: 10.1111/aec.12134.
N/A
2014
Brave new green world - Consequences of a carbon economy for the conservation of Australian biodiversity
Bradshaw, C. J., D. M. Bowman, N. R. Bond, et al. Biological Conservation, 161:71-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.02.012.
N/A
2013
Scale dependency of metapopulation models used to predict climate change impacts on small mammals
Haby, N. A., T. A. A. Prowse, S. D. Gregory, et al. Ecography, 36:832-841. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07749.x.
N/A
2013
Applied Ecology
Bertelsmeier, C., E. Bonnaud, S. D. Gregory, et al. Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology. Ed. by A. Hastings and L. Gross. University of California Press, California.
N/A
2012
Long-term field data and climate-habitat models show that orangutan persistence depends on effective forest management and greenhouse gas mitigation
Gregory, S. D., B. W. Brook, B. Goossens, et al. PLoS ONE 7, p. e43846. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043846.
N/A
2012
Island prioritization for invasive rodent eradications with an emphasis on reinvasion risk
Harris, D. B., S. D. Gregory, L. S. Bull, et al. Biological Invasions, 14:1251-1263. DOI: 10.1007/s10530-011-0153-1.
N/A
2011
Safety in numbers: extinction arising from predator-driven Allee effects
Gregory, S. D. and F. Courchamp Journal of Animal Ecology, 79:511-514. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01676.x.
N/A
2010
Limited evidence for the demographic Allee effect from numerous species across taxa
Gregory, S. D., C. J. Bradshaw, B. W. Brook, et al. Ecology, 91:2151-2161. DOI: 10.1890/09-1128.1.
N/A
2010
Demographic Allee effects: empirical evidence and detection.
Gregory, S. D.
N/A
2010
Dangerously few liaisons: a review of mate-finding Allee effects
Gascoigne, J., L. Berec, S. D. Gregory, et al. Population Ecology, 51:355-372. DOI: 10.1007/s10144-009-0146-4.
N/A
2009
Prickly coexistence or blunt competition? Opuntia refugia in an invaded rodent community
Gregory, S. D. and D. W. Macdonald Oecologia, 159:225-236. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-008-1196-6.
N/A
2009
Interspecific overlap in resource and space use of the endemic Santiago Rice rat and the invasive Black rat on Santiago, Galpagos.
Gregory, S. D.
N/A
2006
Space invaders? A search for patterns underlying the coexistence of alien black rats and Galapagos rice rats
Harris, D. B., S. D. Gregory, and D. W. Macdonald Oecologia, 149:276-288. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-006-0447-7.
N/A
2006