Beth Woodhead
Lancaster University
Email: b.woodhead@lancaster.ac.uk
Beth is an EPSRC-funded PhD and Envision affiliated student at Lancaster Environment Centre supervised by Dr James Robinson, Prof Christina Hicks, Dr Gareth Williams (Bangor University) and Dr Ife Okafor-Yarwood (University of St Andrews). Following a BSc in Biology, Beth completed an MRes in Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Leeds before taking on a research assistant role processing data for a coral reef lab. Beth’s previous research has assessed the ecological effectiveness of marine protected areas, answering questions relating to ecological connectivity and functional diversity. Her current research focuses on understanding the social, environmental and ecological drivers of small pelagic fisheries in West Africa.Research Interests
Broadly, Beth is interested in understanding how anthropogenic and environmental pressures impact marine ecosystems and the people that rely on them. Her PhD project will explore how drivers such as management approaches, climate conditions and fishing pressure have driven fluctuations in the population dynamics of small pelagic fish in West Africa. To untangle these drivers, Beth will use long-term monitoring data and statistical models. Beth then hopes to work with local fisheries, managers and communities to understand how stock fluctuations impact coastal communities with the overall aim of improving management of small pelagic fisheries in West Africa.