Prof Simon Butler

Simon is a Professor of Applied Ecology in the School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia. His research aims to develop and enhance the evidence-base explaining continued global biodiversity losses and to support the targeted delivery of conservation management measures designed to halt them. He uses a range of observational, experimental and modelling approaches to address the mechanistic links between land-use change and biodiversity health and to identify potential synergies and conflicts between competing demands for space, particularly in agricultural and woodland systems. As part of his research, he has designed and undertaken biodiversity surveys in South and Central America, Europe, Africa and South-East Asia. These have focused predominantly on birds, but have also included habitat structure, invertebrate and small mammal surveys, and increasingly combine standard taxa-specific survey approaches with technology-driven approaches such as radio-tracking, camera traps, thermal imaging and passive acoustic monitoring to extend spatial and temporal coverage and garner deeper ecological insight.