Conservation Sciences University of Kent

Overview

Delivered by the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), our Master’s by Research and PhD programmes in Conservation Science encourage you to undertake original, high-quality research, which culminates in the submission of a thesis.  We welcome students with the appropriate background for research. 

During postgraduate research (PGR) studies, students research and write a thesis of under the supervision of an academic team. The length of the thesis varies according to the mode of registrations (i.e. no more than 100,000 words for a PhD, or no more than 40,000 words for a Master's by research). Students participate in the vibrant postgraduate community of DICE and have opportunities to attend events like the DICE seminar series, DICE Talks, and Annual DICE Lecture.

Due to the diversity and international nature of many field-orientated research projects, the amount of time that individual research students spend on campus varies. However, students are expected to spend the first months of the PGR study on campus to obtain training in research methods and attend research seminars.

Some funded MSc / MPhil / PhD research projects will have a specific research question. However, some of of our research students choose their own research topics. Once you have decided on the nature of your project, you should then contact by email the member of staff in DICE whose expertise and interests most closely match your area of research and ask them if they will act as your supervisor. It is extremely important that you attach to your email an updated CV, a 2-page research proposal (including background statement, aims and objectives and research methods) and that you indicate how you are planning to fund your PGR studies. You then work with your proposed supervisor on refining your research proposal which provides the starting point for your subsequent research. 

Each student is supervised by a supervisory team that consists of at least two members of academic staff, one of them designated to act as the student’s Primary supervisor. Occasionally, particular projects require more than two supervisors depending on the expertise that each supervisors brings in the project. It is also possible that co-supervision is provided by a member of staff from different School.

Students meet (or, while in the field, make contact) with their supervisor(s) several times over the course of each term. These meetings involve intensive discussion of the way the project is developing, the readings and training that have been done and that need to be done, and the way field research and writing-up is progressing.

If the research project requires that the student has to spend a significant amount of time in the field (away from DICE), local supervision is usually organised. Overseas students who wish to spend most of their time in their home country while undertaking PhD research may register as an external student or for a split PhD.

The University’s Graduate and Researcher College co-ordinates the Research Development Programme for research students, providing access to a wide range of lectures and workshops on training, personal development planning and career development skills. Staff in DICE also provide training sessions for postgraduate research students.

Conservation Biology

Research within the conservation biology theme is broadly centred on using ecological approaches to understand and maintain biodiversity and ecosystem service provision.

The main tenet that underpins our work is that it is genuinely applied, with the explicit aim of either improving conservation practice (both in-situ and ex-situ) or informing policy development, both nationally and internationally.  To achieve this, we collaborate closely with individuals and organisations including government agencies, not-for-profits, private landowners and corporations from around the world, in addition to more traditional partnerships with academics at other universities and research institutes.

The scope of work conducted in the conservation biology theme is diverse, spanning multiple levels of biological organisation, from molecular/evolutionary genetics through to ecosystems, and a wide array of taxonomic groups (e.g. mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, orchids).  Primarily, there are four key accordant areas of expertise. The first is spatial/landscape conservation and ecology, with particular emphasis on protected area network design via systematic conservation planning techniques, as well as the use of novel methods to explore the impacts of environmental change (e.g. habitat fragmentation and degradation, climate warming, urbanisation) on populations and assemblages.  The second focuses on analysing extinction risk across a continuum ranging from individual species up to global macroecological patterns.  Third, much of the long-standing research in DICE is concentrated on monitoring population dynamics and examining trends in the genetic diversity of threatened species, contributing directly to the success of a whole host of conservation programmes over the years.  Finally, we study human-wildlife conflict/interactions (e.g. resource competition, disease transmission, development mitigation, wildlife gardening) from a natural sciences perspective, complementing concurrent social science research or contributing to knowledge within an interdisciplinary framework.

Conservation Social Science

Our interdisciplinary research theme explores the complexity and diversity of interactions between people, place and environment.

We pursue our research in a range of geographical and social contexts to elaborate – and engage critically and constructively with – understandings of these relationships and approaches to their management and governance.  Our research encompasses questions of sustainability and resilience, set within a broader interest in systems thinking. Research undertaken within DICE is distinguished by significant capacity in the critical and applied social sciences and spatial analysis, and is advanced through strong commitments to theoretical and conceptual innovation, as well as practical research that can influence developments in policy and practice  The interdisciplinary basis of DICE results in a range of specific research interests including: 

• Land use change and sustainable landscape planning 

• Applied resource economics and environmental valuation 

• Participatory approaches to natural resource management 

• Ecosystem services and biocultural diversity 

• Political economies of development and tourism