Joshua Sammy

PhD topic title: The Dynamics of Insect Biodiversity in Novel British Landscapes

PhD supervisors: Professor Chris Thomas, Professor Helen Roy and Dr Andrew Salisbury

Biography and research

For my MSc by Research degree at the University of York, I modelled the responses of polydomous colonies of ants to predation. I also worked on range shifts in mangroves, and pollination by honey bees in urban environments, at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have an interest in social research, and have worked as a video game usability researcher in order to improve my skills in this field.

For my PhD, I am using citizen science data to investigate the ways in which insect distributions in the UK have changed through time, and whether and how this has been influenced by human land use. I will investigate some human-related aspects of citizen science, such as access to citizen science and human perceptions of the insects they report.

I am passionate about human-environment interactions, and the ways that citizen science may improve human wellbeing and foster better relationships between humans and insects.

Funder

• NERC ACCE DTP – 3.5 years 
• RHS – October 2020 – June 2024