Contact

Name

Lucy Mitchell
Position

Postdoctoral Researcher – Ornithologist
E-Mail Address

lucy.mitchell@uhi.ac.uk
Joined the ERI

October 11, 2021
Job Description

Lucy is a postdoctoral ornithologist and ecologist, working primarily on the Horizon 2020 ROBINSON project, with expertise in avian tracking methods and ecological analyses.

Career

2019 – 2021 PDRA in Ornithological Migration – University of Hull

2015 – 2019 PhD, Uni of York

2014 – 2015 Greenspace Officer, Dundee City Council

2012 – 2013 MRes, Uni of Liverpool

2008 – 2012 Reserves Officer, Wildlife Trust BCN

Qualifications

2019 – PhD, Avian Ecology; Uni of York. Title: The influence of environmental variation on individual foraging and habitat selection behaviour of the European nightjar.

2013 – MRes, Conservation and Resource Management, Uni of Liverpool.

2007 – BSc (Hons) Environmental Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University

Publications

2021 – Mitchell, L.J., Horsburgh, G.J., Dawson, D.A., Maher, K.H., Arnold, K.E. – Metabarcoding reveals selective dietary responses to environmental availability in the diet of a nocturnal, aerial insectivore, the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) – Ibis – DOI: 10.1111/ibi.13010

2020 – Mitchell, L.J., Kohler, T., White, P.C.L., Arnold, K.E. – High interindividual variability in habitat selection and functional habitat relationships in European nightjars over a period of habitat change – Ecology and Evolution – DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6331

2019 – Mitchell, L.J., White, P.C.L., Arnold, K.E. – The trade-off between fix rate and tracking duration on estimates of home range size and habitat selection for small vertebrates – Plos One – DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219357

Profile

I am a practical avian ecologist with a strong interest in movement and habitat selection to understand species’ relationships with their environment.

My PhD investigated the responses of European nightjars to habitat change on their breeding site using miniature GPS units, along with metabarcoding to study their diet.

I currently work on the ROBINSON Horizon 2020 project, investigating developing a cumulative impacts framework to study species interactions with renewable energy.

I also chair the UK Motus steering group, which aims to build a network of passive Motus receivers nationwide. Motus receivers consist of directional or omni directional antennae that detect miniature VHF tags that are uniquely coded to the bird or mammal onto which they are attached. These can be attached to small passerines and bats, thus enabling us to track species previously unable to be tagged. See motus.org for more details about the system, and contact me for more info on how to get involved.