Sam Shove: MRes student (part time) 2020 - present
MRes student at Swansea University. Co-supervised by Dr Hazel Nichols and Dr Daniel Forman, collaborating with the Gower Bird Hospital.
Project: The landscape genetics of Welsh hedgehogs.
Having grown up in a small Welsh town and been let loose on the mountains, I’ve always been fascinated by the natural world, leading me to bring home untold surprises for my parents and helping the family dogs find the sources of all those great sniffs. This led me to the University College Northampton (as it was then) where I achieved my BSc in Earth Science and Ecology, originally with grand plans of living on the slopes of a live volcano somewhere exotic. Instead I found my way to the Ministry of Defence as an Assistant Natural Environment Advisor then on to TACP, where I have been for the last 15 years and am now a Senior Ecologist. While the world of consultancy poses it own challenges, the ever changing world of ecology and the need for more robust and evidence based assessments and mitigation led me to Swansea University’s Biosciences department to undertake a part-time MRes, while still working full-time.
My project focuses on hedgehogs, the Western European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) specifically, and their ability to move through the landscape given the extensive changes that have occurred due to agricultural intensification, land use changes, hedgerow removal, and construction of roads and other man-made barriers. I’ll use existing habitat data and ground truthing to produce habitat suitability / landscape resistance maps based on known hedgehog requirements and use census and other data sources to validate these as far as possible. We’re working with the Gower Bird Hospital to collect genetic samples from as many hedgehogs as possible, along with location data, from which I’ll be able to produce genotype distribution maps. I will then combine these two sets of maps to investigate the different restrictions and barriers to gene flow in the landscape, from which I hope to be able to develop more successful connectivity measures providing vital information to conservation groups and the consultancy world to reduce current and future impacts on this fascinating species.
Project: The landscape genetics of Welsh hedgehogs.
Having grown up in a small Welsh town and been let loose on the mountains, I’ve always been fascinated by the natural world, leading me to bring home untold surprises for my parents and helping the family dogs find the sources of all those great sniffs. This led me to the University College Northampton (as it was then) where I achieved my BSc in Earth Science and Ecology, originally with grand plans of living on the slopes of a live volcano somewhere exotic. Instead I found my way to the Ministry of Defence as an Assistant Natural Environment Advisor then on to TACP, where I have been for the last 15 years and am now a Senior Ecologist. While the world of consultancy poses it own challenges, the ever changing world of ecology and the need for more robust and evidence based assessments and mitigation led me to Swansea University’s Biosciences department to undertake a part-time MRes, while still working full-time.
My project focuses on hedgehogs, the Western European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) specifically, and their ability to move through the landscape given the extensive changes that have occurred due to agricultural intensification, land use changes, hedgerow removal, and construction of roads and other man-made barriers. I’ll use existing habitat data and ground truthing to produce habitat suitability / landscape resistance maps based on known hedgehog requirements and use census and other data sources to validate these as far as possible. We’re working with the Gower Bird Hospital to collect genetic samples from as many hedgehogs as possible, along with location data, from which I’ll be able to produce genotype distribution maps. I will then combine these two sets of maps to investigate the different restrictions and barriers to gene flow in the landscape, from which I hope to be able to develop more successful connectivity measures providing vital information to conservation groups and the consultancy world to reduce current and future impacts on this fascinating species.