Tom Mason

Tom is a conservation ecologist interested in how wild animal populations respond to changes in their environment.

Aidan on November 2, 2015

Photo credit: Tom Mason

For the latest updates on what Tom is doing now, please check out his personal website

Contact

email: tom.h.e.mason@gmail.com
twitter: @_the_mason

Conservation Ecology Group,
Department of Biosciences,
Durham University,
DH1 3LE

Background

I am a post-doctoral researcher now based at Durham University, having previously worked as a post-doc at Stirling University on a Carnegie Trust funded project co-led by Aidan. Prior to this I was a post-doc at Laval University in Canada. I carried out my PhD in conservation ecology at Durham University, having completed undergraduate and Masters degrees at Bristol and Exeter University, respectively.

Research interests

I am a conservation ecologist interested in how wild animal populations respond to changes in their environment, resulting both from natural processes and human activities. Environmental change can affect animal populations in complex and unexpected ways, from disturbing the behaviour of individuals to altering the demography of populations. I collect and analyse long-term data in order to identify the drivers of such change. I use this information to identify conservation actions that can benefit animal populations, while allowing coexistence with humans.

My research collaboration with Aidan investigated the socio-ecological dynamics of conservation conflict between goose conservation and farming on the Scottish island of Islay. We are still working on several interesting outputs from our project with colleagues from Stirling and Aberdeen University!

Related publications

Mason, T. H. E., Pollard, C.R.J., Chimalakonda, D., Guerrero, A.M., Kerr-Smith, C., Milheiras, S.A.G., Roberts, M., Rodrigue, P. and Bunnefeld, N. Wicked conflict: using wicked problem thinking for holistic management of conservation conflict. In review

Mason, T. H. E., Keane, A., Redpath, S.M., & Bunnefeld, N. (2017) The changing environment of conservation conflict: geese and farming in Scotland. Journal of Applied Ecology.

For a full list of my published papers, please refer to my personal website