Claire Tancell
ct357@cam.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223
221380
I started my PhD in January 2009, after a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences at the University of Plymouth, an MSc in Ecology at the University of Bangor and an early career in ecological research including projects at the Institute of Ecology, Bangor; the Wetland Ecosystems Research Group, University of Exeter; National Power, Swindon; Pelagic Ecosystems Research Group, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and most recently, the European Network of Excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis, based at BAS, Cambridge.
My PhD is a joint project between the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey. My supervisor at the University of Cambridge is Bill Sutherland and at BAS, Richard Phillips and Geraint Tarling.
Research Interests
My research focuses on the Southern Polar region; one of the most hostile environments on the planet. The Antarctic continent is permanently covered by an icecap almost 1.5 miles thick and is surrounded by the stormy Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the only ocean to surround the globe circulating between -60 and -75 degrees south, with a powerful eastward flow and connecting all of the world’s major ocean basins. This circulation is an important driver of global weather patterns, and the region shows some of the strongest regional responses to recent climate change.
Understanding the operation of the Southern Ocean ecosystem is not only vital to our understanding of the Earth as a coherent physical/biological system, but is also crucial to successful management of the internationally important fisheries which the Southern Ocean supports. These fisheries exist both within national jurisdictions and in international waters, and are faced with significant conservation threats including illegal fishing, fishing by-catch and rapid decline in some seabird populations towards extinction levels. Fluctuations in the extent of winter sea ice have also been linked to changing seabird and krill populations.
My PhD project aims to investigate what can be learnt about the Southern Ocean ecosystem from the distribution of seabirds in the Scotia Sea region, between the tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. It aims to use information from tracking of individual seabirds and observations carried out from vessels at sea, to understand which regions of the Scotia Sea are important to the pelagic ecosystem surrounding the island of South Georgia. The project’s finding will be used to inform the definition of candidate Marine Protected Areas in the region.
I am also interested in GIS applications for ecology and in Bayesian methods for ecological modeling.
My work is funded by the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
Collaborations
I am currently collaborating with the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media at the University of Westminster to bring new perspectives to environmental data by creating immersive art installations.
Other Links
In 2008 I produced and narrated a film on the role of European marine scientists in the International Polar Year which is currently being shown at public aquaria across Europe
Publications (neé Swanson)
- Tancell, C., Phillips, R.A., Xavier, J.C., Tarling, G.A., Sutherland, W.J. (2012) Comparison of methods for determining key marine areas from tracking data. Marine Biology, in press.
- Whitehouse, M.J., Priddle, J., Brandon, M.A., Afanasyev, V., Fukuda A., Fox, J., Catry, P., Higuchi H. and Swanson, C. (1999) A comparison of Chlorophyll/nutrient dynamics at two survey sites near South Georgia, and the potential role of planktonic nitrogen recycled by land-based predators. Limnology and Oceanography, 44, 1498-1508.
- Wilson, E.J., Skeffington, R.A., Downer, C.J., Maltby, E., Immirzi, P. and Swanson, C. (1995) Setting critical loads of acidity for dystrophic peat – A new approach. Acid Rain Research: Do We Have Enough Answers? 64, 389-391
- Wilson, E.J., Skeffington, R.A., Maltby, E., Immirzi, P., Swanson, C. and Proctor, M. (1995) Towards a new method of setting a critical load of acidity for ombrotrophic peat. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 85, 249-2496
