Job title
PhD Studentship in Aquatic Biodiversity in Public Aquariums.
Company
University of Portsmouth (in collaboration with Zoological Society of London).
Description of the job
The University of Portsmouth, in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is offering a fully funded PhD studentship through the NERC TREES Doctoral Landscape Award to investigate the diversity of aquatic organisms kept in public aquariums across the UK.
Zoos and public aquariums are a cornerstone of efforts to conserve and protect species and also educate the public about the amazing biodiversity across the globe. Yet, there is no definitive list of the aquatic biodiversity that is displayed. This interdisciplinary project aims to address this gap by analysing data from the UK zoo licensing system.
Research objectives:
- Investigate the diversity of species kept in public aquaria and zoos, including invertebrate vs. vertebrate, marine vs. freshwater, and temperate vs. tropical species.
- Explore the link between biodiversity and the type of organisation using additional datasets.
- Investigate the link between species kept and IUCN Red List status, including species threatened with extinction or critically endangered.
- Utilise existing databases and novel data sources from local holders such as councils of zoo licence records, exploring both qualitative and quantitative data.
Expected outputs:
- Support the industry by identifying common themes in biodiversity and inform best practice in husbandry methods that can be shared across institutions.
- Identify aquatic species that should be targeted for coordinated management, including refining UK-wide breeding programmes using best practice.
- Transcribe data into a welfare context to support optimisation in the context of any future legislative changes.
Project-specific training:
- Collation, manipulation and analysis of big data from a range of sources.
- Transferrable skills in programming for data handling and analysis using statistical packages such as R programming language.
- Approaches for both quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
- Training provided through one-to-one instruction by the supervisory team and through training opportunities at University of Portsmouth and ZSL researcher training programmes.
- Expert understanding of aquatic ecology in the context of zoos.
Potential career trajectory:
- Within academia: research trajectory within the fields of conservation and ecology, with a focus on animal husbandry and welfare.
- Outside academia: careers involving analysis of big data, statistical analyses and programming, conservation and public outreach, and positions within the public aquarium/zoo industry.
Requirements
- Eligibility for NERC TREES Doctoral Landscape Award funding.
- Interest in aquatic biodiversity, conservation, and data analysis.
Location
Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
Salary
Not specified.
How to apply
Interested candidates should contact the project supervisors directly:
- Gordon Watson, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Portsmouth – gordon.watson@port.ac.uk.
- Chris Yesson, Institute of Zoology, ZSL – Chris.yesson@ioz.ac.uk.
Deadline
17/12/2025.
Disclaimer
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