Matt Geary | University of Chester

I’m a conservation ecologist with an interest in how and why populations grow spatially and over time.

Can these processes be explained through demographics, movements of individuals or, perhaps, environmental influences? Why do certain species live where they do and how might this change in the future? I use ecological modelling and statistical analyses to try to answer these questions.

I have always had an interest in ecology and natural history and followed this interest in research projects as I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology. This lead to more ecological research as I completed postgraduate qualifications and worked as an ecological consultant. I gained my PhD in Conservation Ecology at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2012 and, soon after, took up a position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Southampton. Conservation has always been a passion of mine so I was pleased to be able to take up my current role at the University of Chester where I can focus my teaching and research on conservation issues.

I teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels on a variety of conservation focused modules. I am module leader for Global Biodiversity (BI4141), our introductory conservation module in the first year, as well as the MSc module Conservation Ecology (BI7158) and the MRes Research Methods Module (BI7143). I also teach on 13 other modules within the department covering both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

My research interests lie in landscape ecology and population modelling. Currently I am working on using these models to identify vulnerable demographic features, investigate habitat associations and provide evidence-based advice for land managers, policy makers and conservationists.

My research tends to include a spatial or temporal context and is generally based around species conservation. Particular areas of interest include modelling the distribution of species based on environmental predictors, using population modelling to understand and predict demographic changes and predicting the impact of future scenarios on species of conservation concern.

The majority of my work focuses on bird conservation. My current research includes conservation projects on birds including projects in the UK (e.g. Capercaillie, Golden Eagle, Tawny Owl), the Canary Islands (e.g. Houbara Bustard) and the Caribbean (e.g. Grenada Dove, Hispaniolan Parakeet). I also work on amphibians and invertebrates (particularly dragonflies) as well as ecological projects on forest landscapes.

PGR Supervision

Maria Virginia Boiani	PhD	Wolf Recolonisation in the Italian Alps	2021 - Present
James Hill	PhD	Non-vocal signalling in owls	2021 - Present
Naomi Matthews	PhD	Conservation Ecology of Giant Pangolin in Uganda	2019 - Present
Andrea Thomen	PhD	Conservation and management of the Hispaniolan Parrot and Parakeet in Dominican Republic	2019 - Present
Kate Peters	PhD	Molecular Phylogeny and Genetic Diversity of the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove	2016 - Present
Michal Zatrak	PhD	Investigating stress and diseases in harbour seals	2018 - Present
Rachel Ball	PhD	Novel techniques for informing conservation of difficult to observe species: Long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) around the British Isles	2018 - Present
Eleanor Comley	MRes	Distribution of mesopredators in Lake Mburu National Park, Uganda using camera trap data	2021 - Present
Shannon Cornish	MRes	Distribution of mid-sized mammals in Uganda using camera trap data	2020 - 2021
Joe Cooper	MRes	Conservation of Houbara Bustard on Lanzarote, Spain	2019 - 2020
Lorna Marcham	MRes	Pond colonisation and conservation on the Black Isle, Scotland	2019 - 2020
Jack Lawrence	MRes	Uptake of nestboxes by Tawny Owl in Cheshire, UK	2019 - 2020
Lottie Middleton	MRes	Landscape genetics of the White-faced Darter dragonfly	2019 - 2020
Matthew Williams	MRes	Landscape genetics of the white-faced Darter dragonfly	2019 - 2020
Peter York	PhD	Open limestone pavement grike microclimates in Great Britain and Ireland: understanding the present to manage the future	2014 - 2019
Laura Hough	MRes	Spatial Ecology of Hispaniolan Parakeet in Santo Domingo, D.R.	2018 - 2019
Celia Brailsford	MRes	Breeding and Social Behaviour of Hispaniolan Parakeet in Santo Domingo, D.R.	2018 - 2019
Susanna Phillips	MRes	Landscape Genetics of Natterjack Toad Reintroduction projects in Cheshire and N. Wales	2018 - 2019
Emma Morris	MRes	The effect of forest complexity and anthropogenic disturbance on mammal and bird assemblages in Ankasa Conservation Area, Ghana	2018 - 2019
Cassie Jones	MRes	Occupancy of White-faced Darter dragonflies in two Highland forests, Scotland	2017 - 2018
Ryan Nolan	MRes	Population Surveys of Mammalian Species, Including Critically Endangered Primates, at Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, Ghana	2017 - 2018
Adam Welch	MRes	Effects of Human Encroachment on Endangered Primates in Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, Ghana.	2017 - 2018
Rachel Davies	MRes	Investigating Habitat Use of the White-faced Darter Dragonfly	2016 - 2017
Zoe Ball	MRes	Using camera trap data to examine populations of ungulates and their relationships with forest pools in the dry forests of Cambodia	2016 - 2017

Geary, M. Cooper, J.R. & Collar, N.J. 2022. Anthropogenic influences on habitat use by African Houbaras Chlamydotis undulata on Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Journal for Nature Conservation 68, 126231.

Matthews, N., Nixon, S., von Hardenberg, A., Isoke, S. & Geary, M. 2022. Targeting burrows improves detection in giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea camera trap surveys. Oryx, In press.

Peters, C.M., Geary, M., Nelson, H.P., Rusk, B. von Hardenberg, A. & Muir, A.P., 2022. Phylogenetic placement and life history trait imputation for Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi. Bird Conservation International, 1-11. doi:10.1017/S0959270922000065.

Ball, R.J., Kitchiner, A., Davison, N.J., Brownlow, A., Berrow, S., McKeown, N.J., IJsseldijk, L.L., Geary, M., McDowall, I. and Muir, A.P., 2021. New haplotypes found in stranded long‐finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the eastern North Atlantic and adjacent waters. Marine Mammal Science.

Fielding, A.H., Anderson, D., Benn, S., Dennis, R., Geary, M., Weston, E. and Whitfield, P. 2021. Responses of dispersing GPS-tagged Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) to multiple wind farms across Scotland. Ibis, 164(1), 102-117.

Fielding, A.H., Anderson, D., Benn, S., Dennis, R., Geary, M., Weston, E. and Whitfield, P. 2021. Non-territorial GPS-tagged golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos at two Scottish wind farms: avoidance influenced by preferred habitat distribution, wind speed and blade motion status. PloS ONE, 16(8), e0254159.

Geary, M., Brailsford, C.J., Hough, L.I., Baker, F., Guerrero, S., Leon, Y.M., Collar, N.J. and Marsden, S.J., 2021. Street-level green spaces support a key urban population of the threatened Hispaniolan parakeet Psittacara chloropterus. Urban Ecosystems.

Geary, M. and von Hardenberg, A., 2020. White-faced Darter distribution is associated with coniferous forests in Great Britain. Insect Conservation and Diversity

Phillips, S., Geary, M., Allmark, M., Bennett, S., Norman, K., Ball, R.J., Peters, C.M. and Muir, A.P., 2020. The importance of long-term genetic monitoring of reintroduced populations: inbreeding in the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita). Herpetological Journal, 30(3).

Nelson, H.P., Devenish-Nelson, E.S., Rusk, B.L., Geary, M. and Lawrence, A.J., 2020. A review of tropical dry forest ecosystem service research in the Caribbean–gaps and policy-implications. Ecosystem Services, 43, p.101095.

Abrahams, C., Geary, M., 2020 Combining bioacoustics and occupancy modelling for improved monitoring of rare breeding bird populations. Ecological Indicators (112).

Nolan, R., Welsh, A., Geary, M., Hartley, M., Dempsey, A., Mono, J.C., Osei, D. & Stanley, C.R. 2019. Camera Traps Confirm the Presence of the White-naped Mangabey Cercocebus lunulatus in Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, Western Ghana, Primate conservation (33).

Davies, R., von Hardenberg, A. & Geary, M., 2018. Recapture rates and habitat associations of White-faced Darter Leucorhinnia dubia on Fenn's and Whixall Moss, Shropshire, UK Journal of the British Dragonfly Society 34 (2), 89-101.

Geary, M., Haworth, P.H. & Fielding, A.H. 2018. Hen harrier Circus cyaneus nest sites on the Isle of Mull are associated with habitat mosaics and constrained by topography, Bird Study, DOI: 10.1080/00063657.2017.142161.

Nelson, H.P., Devenish-Nelson, E.S., Rusk, B.L., Geary, M. & Lawrence, A.J., 2018. A call to action for climate change research on Caribbean dry forests. Regional Environmental Change, 18(5).

Geary, M., Fielding, A. H., McGowan, P. J. K. & Marsden, S.J., 2015. Scenario-Led Habitat Modelling of Land Use Change Impacts on Key Species. PloS one 10.

Geary, M., Fielding, A.H., Marsden, S.J., 2015. Both habitat change and local lek structure influence patterns of spatial loss and recovery in a black grouse population. Population Ecology 57, 421–431. doi:10.1007/s10144-015-0484-3.

Reiner, R.C., Geary, M., Atkinson, P.M., Smith, D.L., Gething, P.W., 2015. Seasonality of Plasmodium falciparum transmission: a systematic review. Malaria Journal 14, 343.

Wardrop, N.A., Geary, M., Osborne, P.E., Atkinson, P.M., 2014. Interpreting predictive maps of disease: highlighting the pitfalls of distribution models in epidemiology. Geospatial Health 9, 237–246.

Geary, M., Fielding, A. & Marsden, S.J., 2013. Designing mosaic landscapes for Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix using multi-scaled models. Ibis, 155: 792–803. doi: 10.1111/ibi.12090.

Geary, M., Fielding, A. H., & Marsden, S. J., 2012. The anatomy of population change in a black grouse population 1992-2008. Oecologia, (168), 73-81. doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2062-5.

Google scholar profile

BSc(Hons), Biology – Newcastle University
MRes Ecology and Environmental Management – University of York
PhD in Conservation Ecology – Manchester Metropolitan University

Dr Matt Geary