Biography
Professor Rob Briers is Professor of Ecology & Biodiversity and Head of Life Sciences in the School of Applied Sciences.
Professor Briers is a spatial ecologist whose research focuses on how and why biodiversity and environments vary across space, from local to global scales, working mainly in aquatic ecosystems. His advanced quantitative and geo-information skills are put to use answering a range of pure and applied questions in ecology, biodiversity and conservation. This work is undertaken in collaboration with a diverse range of colleagues within the university and at a range of national and international institutions.
Professor Briers has extensive experience of undertaking field- and modelling-based research. Current projects focus on carbon flows in upland freshwaters, evaluating conservation value of urban ponds and impacts of anthropogenic noise in aquatic ecosystems. He is also leading research into conservation and valuation of coastal carbon stores (mangroves and seagrass) using Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing techniques.
He is a Director of the Wildlife Information Centre and has extensive links to the biodiversity data and recording sector. Prior to joining Edinburgh Napier, Professor Briers undertook a NERC-funded post-doc at Aberystwyth University using a combination of novel techniques (stable isotopes and harmonic radar tracking) to examine dispersal patterns of adult aquatic insects in upland streams. He gained a PhD from the University of Sheffield on spatial population dynamics of freshwater invertebrates.