PhD Opportunity, fully funded by the NERC
GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership
From cognition to conservation: using cognitive and behavioural research to enhance red-billed chough reintroductions.
Entry Ref: 5400
September 2025 start
Supervisors
Alex Thornton,
University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Conservation
Rachel Miller, University
of Cambridge, Department of Psychology
Malcolm Nicoll,
Institute of Zoology
Elizabeth Corry,
Wildwood Trust
Malcolm Burgess,
University of Exeter, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour
We are looking for a highly motivated, talented student with broad
interests in animal behaviour, cognition and conservation. The project
will be based at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in beautiful
Cornwall.
Full details of the project and how to apply are here:
https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=5400
If you have any questions about the project, please write to
alex.thornton@exeter.ac.uk
Project summary:
As cognition shapes animals’ responses to changing environments,
cognitive research is increasingly recognised as a key component of
conservation. This PhD project aims to use behavioural and cognitive
principles to enhance reintroduction attempts of Britain’s
most endangered corvid, the red-billed chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax.
Working with an interdisciplinary supervisory team of cognitive biologists and conservationists (including
Paradise Park and CASE
partners Wildwood Trust,
coordinators of the chough reintroduction scheme in Kent), the project
will incorporate controlled experiments, behavioural observations and
population monitoring on up to 80 captive and released choughs in Kent
and Cornwall.
Specific research directions are flexible, but broadly, we aim to (1)
quantify individual variation in cognitive abilities likely to impact
adaptability and survival (e.g. self-control, innovation, social
learning, exploration) and (2) relate this to fitness-relevant
measures like body condition, stress responses and reproductive success
in captivity and the wild. We will then (3) use findings to (a)
establish real-world consequences of cognitive performance on behaviour,
survival and reproductive success post-release
(b) inform release decisions, (c) develop targeted pre-release training
and d) expand release protocols. Each objective will be co-developed
with the student, with extensive opportunities for you to shape project
development according to your interests and
the accumulating evidence.