Kate Davidson

I studied BSc Zoology at Cardiff University, where I developed a broad interest in ecology. I undertook a Professional Training Year at Llysdinam Field Centre where I assisted PhD students with their research into amphibian phenology, biomass crops and biodiversity in willow crops, as well as assisting with the day-to-day running of the centre. I undertook a personal research project investigating the effect of nest box parasites on blue tit productivity. My final year project was under the supervision of Dr Jo Cable and looked at various aspects of gyrodactylid biology on a number of tropical fish hosts.

I graduated in 2007 and since then have mostly been working in University administration, apart from a very brief foray into secondary teaching (which I quickly realised wasn’t the career for me!). My passion for science and nature has remained strong, and I decided that I wanted to return to the world of science and research. In 2013 I was awarded the Morgan E Williams Helminthology Scholarship to study for an MRes in Biosciences at Cardiff University. For my MRes research project I investigated symbiotic organisms on invasive crayfish. I graduated with a Distinction and was awarded the prize of 'Best MRes Student' in the year.

In Autumn 2015 I joined Swansea University under the supervision of Dr John Griffin to begin my PhD: Trade-offs between multiple ecosystem services in UK and US salt marshes. The purpose of this work is to examine how grazing livestock in salt marshes trades off against the provision of services such as carbon storage, coastal defence, recreation and biodiversity in order to make management recommendations. The project is multidisciplinary, incorporating broad-scale field studies, statistical modelling, social studies and economic valuation.