OUR MEMBERS
Our core members, academic collaborators, and industry partners
PROF RACHEL STUBBINGTON
Group leader
Professor in River Ecology
rachel.stubbington@ntu.ac.uk
@rstubbington@ecoevo.social
Google Scholar
I am a freshwater community ecologist. My research explores temporary streams, especially those in cool, wet places like the UK. I consider these streams to be dynamic aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems and am particularly interested in better characterizing dry phases and the terrestrial biodiversity they support. I collaborate with industry partners to ensure that scientific advances made by our research inform improvements to ecosystem management.
I became a Fellow of the Freshwater Biological Association in 2020 - see my inaugural webinar here. I'm a Chief Editor for the journal Fundamental and Applied Limnology. And I led the Community Ecology and Biomonitoring Working Group in the COST Action Science and Management of Intermittent Rivers and Ephemeral Streams (2016-20).
KIERAN GETHING
My PhD focuses on recognizing and protecting biodiversity in dynamic river ecosystems, with a particular drive toward integrating aquatic and terrestrial biomonitoring methods. I hope my research will allow monitoring agencies and citizen scientists to characterize how temporary chalk stream communities respond to multiple pressures . This PhD complements my interests; I have previously been involved with river biomonitoring as a student researcher and citizen scientist.
ROB COLLIER
Building on Giulio's research, Rob's PhD will characterize the biodiversity within the winterbourne springs and streams emerging from the chalk aquifer in south England. Both the Candover Brook and the 'spring line' that crosses the South Downs are particular areas of interest. We hope to inform protection of existing biodiversity as well as restoration to improve impacted reaches.
DR ROMAIN SARREMEJANE
Ro is back! He was with us from 2018-19, then completed post-doctoral research fellowships at INRAE, France and the Ruhi lab at UC Berkeley. He started his senior fellowship at NTU in January 2023.
Ro is a freshwater community ecologist. His current research is characterizing the independent and interacting effects of climate change and other pressures communities in river ecosystems. He is using long-term and large-scale datasets to better understand the drivers of spatiotemporal variability in community composition. In particular, we want to identify communities and ecosystems on the approach to tipping points, to enable timely management actions that enhance ecological resilience
Ro is particularly interested in the effects of extreme events on metacommunities, and seeks to better understand how communities respond to and recover from extreme events in network-wide contexts.
CHLOE HAYES
My PhD is entitled Ecological responses to environmental dynamism in wet and dry chalk streams: towards better temporary river monitoring and management. I will collect new data to characterize dry phase communities in temporary chalk streams and evaluate their potential use as biomonitors. In addition, I will use extensive existing data to investigate the success of restoration activities conducted in these dynamic ecosystems. My interest in dynamic ecosystems and restoration ecology developed while working as a restoration technician at North Cave Wetlands with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Humberside Aggregates.
Chloe successfully defended her thesis in 2022 and now works for the Environment Agency.
PAST MEMBERS
GIULIO BIONDI
I joined the team in June 2020. My research will explore the physical and biological diversity of dynamic freshwaters, in particular, the headwater springs and streams that nestle hidden in chalklands across south England. I hope that by characterizing their aquatic-terrestrial biodiversity, my research will inspire and inform improvements to ecosystem management. I previously completed a BSc at the Open University then an MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from Edinburgh Napier.
JAMAL KABIR
Jamal is analysing the data collected by Giulio and Jess in autumn 2021. His research will characterizing the factors influencing the aquatic invertebrate biodiversity in winterbourne and perennial chalk springs and streams. This work will form the basis for a PhD starting in autumn 2022.
JAKE DIMON
Jake joined us in April 2022 for an NTU Innovative Knowledge Exchange Pilot-funded fellowship. Jake is working in collaboration with scientists at the Environment Agency to develop evidence-informed predictions of how chalk river ecosystems are responding to climate change. Building on our team's recent research, we will compare biodiversity responses in perennial and winterbourne reaches
DR GEORGE BUNTING
George worked on a collaborative project with the Environment Agency, exploring 'winterbourne' chalk streams in south England. His research informed the development of a monitoring programme to better manage these dynamic streams.
George's post ended in December 2019. He now works for the Environment Agency of England.
JED WEAVER
Graduate Intern
jed.weaver@ntu.ac.uk
Jed worked alongside George as a field and lab assistant contributing to our research characterizing winterbourne chalk streams, to inform their monitoring. He left us in 2019 and is now an Assistant Ecologist at Baker Consultants
MIRIAM COLLS
Visiting researcher
mcolls@icra.cat
I am a freshwater ecologist studying for a PhD at the Catalan Institute for Water Research. My research investigates the effects of no-flow periods on biofilm communities in Mediterranean temporary streams, which play a major role in the bottom-up supply of energy and organic matter to stream food webs. I am visiting the Dynamic Streams Research Group to further explore how ecosystems shape the structure and functioning of biofilm communities in temporary streams.
KATHERINE KEATES
Research Assistant
katherine.keates@ntu.ac.uk
I am part of the NTU team working with Environment Agency to study 'winterbourne' chalk streams, to inform monitoring and management practices. I have an MSc in Aquatic Science. My MSc project explored organic matter decomposition in a chalk stream. My research aims were to evaluate methods for citizen science and how decomposition rates can be used to monitor water quality
Katherine's post ended in May 2019
BECKY JARVIS
BSc Researcher
becky.jarvis2018@my.ntu.ac.uk
Becky is an undergraduate studying for a BSc in Environmental Biology at Nottingham Trent University. She is working alongside George and Jed to characterize winterbourne chalk streams, with the goal of informing improvements to their monitoring and management.
Becky's post ended in August 2019
JESS GOLDRING
Jess is working alongside Giulio as a field and lab assistant contributing to our research characterizing winterbourne chalk springs and streams, to inform their monitoring.
Jess's post ended in September 2021
OUR COLLABORATORS
National and international academic collaborators, industry partners and recent members
( [at] replaces @ in email addresses in an attempt to outwit pesky spambots)
Industry partners
Richard Chadd (to 2021, RIP Richard)
Senior Environmental Monitoring Officer
Environment Agency of England, UK
richard.chadd [at] environment-agency.gov.uk
Judy England
Senior Specialist
Environment Agency of England, UK
Tim Sykes
Biodiversity Technical Specialist
Environment Agency of England, UK
tim.sykes [at] environment-agency.gov.uk
Dr Chris Westwood
Independent Consultant
Environmental Research Associates
National collaborators
Dr Tory Milner
Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography
University of Huddersfield, UK
Catherine Sefton
Hydrologist
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
cafseh [at] ceh.ac.uk
Prof Paul Wood
Professor of Ecohydrology
Loughborough University, UK
International collaborators
Dr Núria Bonada
Assistant Professor
University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Dr Núria Cid
Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
INRAE: National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Lyon, France
Dr Thibault Datry
Freshwater Ecologist
INRAE: National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Lyon, France
Dr Marie-Jo Dole-Olivier
Chargée de Recherche CNRS
Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
marie-jose.olivier [at] univ-lyon1.fr
Dr Cath Leigh
Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology
RMIT University
catherine.leigh [at] rmit.edu.au
Dr Jonathan C. Marshall
Principal Scientist (Aquatic Ecosystems)
Water Planning Ecology, Department of Environment and Science
onathan.marshall [at] des.qld.gov.au
Dr Petr Pařil
Specialist
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Dr Albert Ruhi
Assistant Professor
UC Berkeley, California, USA
Dr Ross Vander Vorste
Postdoctoral Researcher
UC Berkeley, California, USA
Recent members
2018
Project: Is the dry-phase flora of temporary rivers more than “non-aquatic”? The biodiversity contribution of terrestrial taxa
Lilly Harvey
Research Assistant in Environmental Biology
Emma Malpass
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
Nottingham Trent University
2017
Project: Do local habitat characteristics influence colonization of dry riverbeds?
Bryony Carling
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
Patrick Doyle
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
2016
Project: Aquatic and terrestrial contributions to total biodiversity in temporary streams
Matt Bursnell
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
Alex Southern
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
2015
Project: Aquatic invertebrate persistence in temporary river refuges
Chris Howell
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
Lauri Leivers
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
2014
Project: A comparison of two methods for sampling invertebrates in the hyporheic zone.
John-Paul Hogan
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
Ben Stevens
BSc Researcher in Freshwater Ecology
