PhD Researcher
Jen.weston@uwe.ac.uk
Research interests: Urban biodiversity; citizen science; practical based solutions for conservation in urban areas.
I started my PhD in Urban Biodiversity and Citizen Science in January 2022 with Dr Bethan Hindle as my DOS in collaboration with the National History Consortium. Prior to starting my PhD, I worked in Widening Participation at Bath University where I was committed to supporting students from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds in attending University. Before Bath, I undertook a MSc at UWE in advanced wildlife conservation in practise, and for my dissertation I looked at the impacts on ecological connectivity of proposed housing development by way of their green infrastructure using GIS. I also worked with Dr Paul Lintott as a research assistant for Building with Nature to aid in assessing their standards. My main areas of interest are looking at ways to conserve biodiversity in urban areas and how we can make the countryside sector more accessible.
My current research uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques. I am using data obtained from the citizen science event ‘City Nature Challenge’ to determine who is participating and determine some of the barriers to non-attendance. I am also hoping to look at ways to use data obtained in urban biodiversity citizen science to aid Bristol in its ecological emergency status.