Project title
'Developing efficient pheromone monitoring systems for several rare and declining moths and evaluating the safety of pheromone monitoring.'
Profile summary
Having completed a BSc in Animal Science at CCCU I managed to gain a place on a PhD here. My research aims to develop pheromone monitoring systems for a number of rare and declining moths in the UK and to evaluate the safety of pheromone monitoring. Moths have undergone large and rapid declines in the UK in the last 40 years and accurate monitoring is an essential part of their conservation. Many insects communicate using pheromones and synthetic pheromones have been used for decades in pest management; only recently is the potential use of pheromones to monitor insects for conservation purposes being explored. Pheromone based monitoring of insects has the potential to revolutionise the way in which conservation surveys are carried out and greatly improve the accuracy of data obtained. The possibility of monitoring rare insects using pheromones in the UK has not been explored. Recently I have spoken at a National Moth Recorders conference and have had a paper accepted for publication about my research into risk assessing the use of pheromones in conservation.