David (Dave) is a Senior Lecturer and Lead of the Earth, Ecology and Environment Research and Innovation Group at the University of South Wales, UK. He is a conservation ecologist with a focus on birds, large mammals, and the occasional foray into reptiles. He obtained both his MSc and PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University where his doctoral research quantified best practice sampling design and survey methods for evaluating tropical forest bird populations and communities in the Philippines. His post-doctoral research applied this more widely (China and the Philippines), with a strong focus on capacity enhancement to support initiative-taking protected area management. Dave has more than 25 years field-based research experience both in the UK and tropics (primarily southeast Asia), during which he has worked with government agencies, eNGOs, international donors, universities, and community partners to deliver collaborative, impactful, and sustainable outcomes. He has worked for several years in Sumatra developing biodiversity monitoring and research programmes that support the aims of ecosystem restoration concessions, including quantifying sun bear populations and habitat associations in relation and response to habitat recovery gradients, through both passive and active restorative actions. His broad research interests include species, community and functional ecology, wildlife survey and monitoring techniques, biodiversity targets and indicators, and ecosystem restoration management. More specifically, his research focuses on species and community responses to habitat change in human-modified landscapes, the role of ecological traits as surrogates of ecosystem resilience and recovery, developing scientific frameworks to inform biodiversity policy, and co-developing and applying conservation technologies to monitor biodiversity and enhance stakeholder engagement. He currently holds (until mid-2026) a Research Fellowship with the Welsh Government developing national biodiversity targets and indicators to support nature positive legislation and inform policy-driven actions.
