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Centre for Ecology,
Evolution and Conservation (CEEC)
University of East Anglia
Norwich
UK
The Centre
for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at UEA,
Norwich, is one of the largest groups of ecologists and evolutionary
biologists in Europe, with over 20 members of faculty and a community
of around 70 research staff and PhD students. We offer:
BSc
degrees in Ecology, with options to spend a year in North America;
Australasia or mainland Europe. All include a
ten day fieldcourse in the West of Ireland, and other optional
fieldcourses.
A one
year Masters programme
in Applied Ecology and Conservation
A one
year Diploma in
ecology, which can be taken as a free standing qualification,
or as a route to allow graduates in a non-biological subject to enter
our MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation.
Doctoral programmes in ecology, evolutionary
biology and conservation.
We are also partners in the European Masters degree in Applied Ecology. This is an Erasmus Mundus partnership between University of East Anglia, University of Poitiers (France), University of Coimbra (Portugal), and Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel (Germany). In the first year of the programme you will attend courses in 3 countries and in the second year you will be based in one of the four EMAE Universities, with opportunities to undertake fieldwork for the dissertation in exciting locations around the world.
CEEC brings
together staff and students based in two departments, the School
of Biological Sciences and the School
of Environmental Sciences. There are strong collaborative links
in research and close integration of teaching between the two Schools,
and some staff hold joi. There are strong collaborative links in
research and close integration of teaching between the two Schools, and some
staff hold joint appointments.
External collaborators include British Trust for
Ornithology, RSPB, the John Innes Centre, ELSA
and CEFAS.
Inside UEA we have collaborations with social scientists,
environmental chemists, molecular biologists, and staff in the
Medical School and School of International Development.
Research
Research in the centre includes work in terrestrial,
freshwater and marine systems. Organisms studied include pro- and eukaryote
micro-organisms, plants and animals, at spatial scales ranging from
the microscopic to continental and global. Our interests are grouped
into four broad themes:
- Behavioural Ecology and Populations. Population
biology and population dynamics of animals and plants. Life history
evolution, and its consequences for population biology. Reproductive
behaviour, sexual selection and the population consequences of individual
behavour, including work on birds, mammals, fish and invertebrates.
Ethnobiology and evolutionary psychology. Ecophysiology.
- Contaminated Environments, Chemical and Ecosystem
Ecology. There is an inextricable link between environmental chemistry
and ecology. Biological processes form key links in geochemical cycling
of many elements. Changes in the chemistry of the environment induced
by human activities impact on ecological processes, often in detrimental
ways. We are involded in examining the roles played by eukaryotic
microorganisms, bacteria and archaea in the biogeochemical cycles
of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and iodine, particularly in the marine
environment. Several staff are examining the impacts of climate change
on ecological systems, particularly through our involvement in the
Tyndall Centre project on
managing coastal zones. The transport, breakdown, fate and ecological
effects of contaminants in the environment. The ecology and bioremediation
of grossly contaminated environments, including acid mine drainage
at pH 0.5, post-industrial "brownfield" sites contaminated with hydrocarbons,
phenolics and pesticides, and estuaries with several centuries of
history of severe metal contamination.
- Conservation. Characterisation of biodiversity
from the genetic to the landscape level, its effects on ecosystem
functions and its conservation. Ecology of agricultural, seminatural
and natural systems, tropical forests, coastal and marine environments,
including the decline of coral reefs and impacts of genetically modified
(GM) crops on biodiversity. Habitat creation and restoration. Sustainable
exploitation of natural resources; trade and the environment. Wildlife
biology and the management of endangered species, including projects
on mammals, birds and reptiles. Landscape ecology and macroecology.
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution. Evolutionary
genetics, population genetics and phylogeography. Theoretical and
empirical studies of evolutionary processes. Microbial ecology and
ecophysiology, environmental genomics and proteomics. A growing theme
in our research is "integrative biology", making links between molecular
processes and changes at the whole organism, population and community
levels.
Individual faculty and their research interests are
listed on our Ecology
Research at UEA page.
Teaching
Our MSc in Applied
Ecology and Conservation attracts about 24 students each year. The
majority of these have some practical experience in conservation as
well as a first degree, and about half come from outside the UK. We
are able to offer full or partial financial support to some students
each year, including five NERC studentships.
BSc
Ecology programme (including 4 year programmes with a year in Europe,
North America or Australasia). Our BSc programme is unusual within the
UK in that the full three years of study are focussed on ecology, rather
than ecology being studied as a final year option within a much broader
biological sciences degree.
Research Degrees and Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Research students can obtain three different research
degrees, MSc, MPhil and PhD. For a postgraduate prospectus and information
pack, send an email request to our graduate admissions office,
specifying which of our programmes you are interested, and whether you
want information on the School of Biological Sciences, the School of
Environmental Sciences or both. But if you know the broad research area
in which you want to work it is probably best to make direct contact
with members of faculty in your particular field of interest (see Ecology
research at UEA for a list of faculty and their research interests).
We are likely to have some studenships tied to particular projects -
follow these links for information on studentships in the
School of Biological Sciences and the School
of Environmental Sciences.
If you
already have a PhD and your research is in one of the above areas, we
would be very happy to consider hosting a research fellowship, such
as those awarded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC),
the UK Royal Society and the EU (Marie Curie Fellowships). A number
of externally funded research fellows are already based in CEEC. Please
contact the Director, or a member of faculty working in your field,
to discuss this further.
Please send comments or general enquiries to A.Grant@uea.ac.uk.
Contact information
Professor Alastair Grant
Center for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
Phone: 01603 592537
Fax: 01603
591327
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