Alisha Higgins
Loughborough University
Project
The role of freshwater connectivity in facilitating the range expansion of invertebrate invasive species
Supervisors
- Dr Kate Mathers
- Professor Paul Wood
PhD Summary
Invasive non-native species (INNS) pose a significant threat to the diversity of freshwater ecosystems and are a major present, and future, issue for the UK. Establishment of INNS differs depending on their characteristics, but connectivity between waterbodies including rivers, canals and reservoirs may facilitate their movement, and act as stepping stones for future expansion into connected waterbodies.
Previous activity
Before my PhD, I attained both my BSc Geography and MSc Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management degrees from Loughborough University. I also spent a year working as a Research Technician on Dr Kate Mathers’ UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship where I processed macroinvertebrate and fine sediment data to aid understanding of the abiotic and biotic controls which influence the ecosystem effects of instream sedimentation.
Why did you choose doctoral research?
I decided to undertake doctoral research as I genuinely love learning and found that I really enjoyed the research process while completing my MSc dissertation. Subsequently, I have pursued this further as a Research Technician and now as a doctoral researcher.
Why did you choose CENTA?
I was interested in a CENTA studentship as it provided me the opportunity to study exactly the topic I was interested in. Furthermore, the support from CENTA as an organisation and the community of doctoral researchers was a huge draw.
Future plans
I hope that my PhD will equip me with the necessarily skills to have flexibility in my future plans, allowing me to stay in academia or work in consultancy.