Rachelle Buxton
Rachel Buxton, Postdoctoral Fellow
Supervisors: Joe Bennett, Steve Cooke, Paul Smith,
Research Interests: I am a conservation biologist interested in the impacts of humans on ecological systems and how ecological systems respond to restoration across geographic scales. My ultimate goal is to provide robust research that informs conservation management and policy. My background is in seabird ecology and biocultural restoration of island ecosystems, where I determined ecological factors that drive seabird population recovery after non-native predator eradication. I also have expertise in soundscape ecology, including the impacts of noise pollution on wildlife, the importance of natural sound, and the use of acoustics to monitor biodiversity at large scales. My current research is in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Carleton University, examining Canada’s science needs to meet biodiversity targets and prioritizing actions for biodiversity conservation. My research will examine endangered species legislation in a spatially-explicit framework to determine how we can effectively prioritize actions for at-risk organisms.
My research has brought me to incredible places, from the Aleutian Islands to Antarctica. Although I remain an enthusiastic field biologist and ‘bird nerd’, my focus has shifted to using big data – from acoustic recorders and camera traps to remote-sensing.
Finally, I am passionate about science communication and equality and inclusion in the scientific community.
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