Dr Hugh Wright
h.wright@zoo.cam.ac.uk
Tel:
+44 (0)1223 769018
I am Postdoctoral Research Associate working in the Sutherland lab for the NERC Knowledge Exchange Programme on Sustainable Food Production.
Research Interests
Currently I work on ecosystem services supporting food production, summarising and disseminating the results of scientific studies that test interventions to enhance these services and agricultural sustainability. In particular I am working towards a synopsis of interventions to improve the natural control of pests and diseases in farming. We are working closely with the food and farming industries, conservation practitioners and scientists to promote evidence-based decision making and to set an agenda for further policy-relevant research.
I am also interested in the role of anthropogenic land use and modified landscapes for supporting biodiversity. Much attention is given to the threats posed by land-use change in semi-natural and open habitats of the developing world, but the role that people play in sustaining these environments is often overlooked. In certain circumstances farming can provide an important analogue for lost ecosystem functions – such as grazing by domestic livestock in the absence of wild herbivores. Understanding the nature and whereabouts of valuable human land uses, and the mechanisms for maintaining them in the face of social and economic change, are my main interests.
I recently completed my PhD at the University of East Anglia (UEA), making the case for the conservation value of low-impact agriculture in the developing world and focusing on the Critically Endangered White-shouldered Ibis in Cambodia. Prior to that I completed a Masters degree in Applied Ecology and Conservation at UEA and a bachelor’s degree in geography at the University of Oxford.
Engaging students and early-career researches in ornithology
As a Council member to the British Ornithologists’ Union I work alongside other council and committee members, encouraging students and early-career researchers to gain experience in attending conferences and running a society, to promote their research and engage with one another.
Publications
- Wright, H.L., Lake, I.R., Dolman, P.M. (2012). Low-impact agriculture requires urgent attention not greater caution: response to Phalan and colleagues. Conservation Letters 5: 325-326.
- Wright, H.L., Lake, I.R., Dolman, P.M. (2012). Agriculture—a key element for conservation in the developing world. Conservation Letters 5: 11-19.
- Sok, K., Claassen, A., Wright, H.L., Ryan, G.E. (2012). Waterbird nest protection on the Mekong River: a preliminary evaluation, with notes on the recovery and release of white-shouldered ibis Pseudibis davisoni chicks. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2012: 29-41.
- Wright, H.L., Collar, N.J., Lake, I.R., Bou Vorsak, Dolman, P.M. (2012). Foraging ecology of sympatric White-shouldered Ibis Pseudibis davisoni and Giant Ibis Thaumatibis gigantea in northern Cambodia. Forktail 28: 93-100.
- Wright, H.L., Collar, N.J., Lake, I.R., Net Norin, Rours Vann, Sok Ko, Sum Phearun, Dolman, P.M. (2012). First census of white-shouldered ibis Pseudibis davisoni reveals roost-site mismatch with Cambodia’s protected areas. Oryx 46: 236-239.
- Wright, H.L., Buckingham, D.L., Dolman, P.M. (2010). Dry season habitat use by critically endangered white-shouldered ibis in northern Cambodia. Animal Conservation 13: 71-79.
- Wright, H.L., Vorsak, B., Collar, N.J., Gray, T.N.E., Lake, I.R., Phearun, S., Rainey, H.J., Vann, R., Ko, S., Dolman, P.M. (2010). Establishing a national monitoring programme for White-shouldered Ibis in Cambodia. Ibis 152: 206-208.
