NTU student shortlisted for CIEEM’s Postgraduate of the year award 2020

MSc Biodiversity Conservation student Jen MacIsaac, has been shortlisted for her research project, acoustic surveying of hazel dormice in Nottinghamshire, for the CIEEM Postgraduate of the year award 2020.

MSc Biodiversity Conservation student, Jen MacIsaac

The CIEEM Awards, otherwise known as the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, are a fantastic celebration of the success of projects, businesses and individuals who have made significant contributions to protecting the natural environment.

The 2020 awards ceremony was due to be held on 25 June in London; however, this has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will now take place on 2 October 2020.

Jen’s project, entitled “Acoustic surveying of hazel dormice in Nottinghamshire: a preliminary study", has been shortlisted for the Postgraduate Student Project of the year award for 2020.

Jen’s project investigated a new method of surveying hazel dormice by detecting their vocalisations using acoustic recorders. When we asked Jen about her approach she said, “To do this I first had to record and identify dormouse vocalisations which I achieved by setting up camera traps and audiomoth acoustic recorders next to hanging baited platforms, the vocalisations were identified using camera trap footage of dormice on the platforms”.

Hazel dormice are a rare and protected species in the UK - they were extinct in Nottinghamshire until they were reintroduced in 1994.

She further added, “I then surveyed three woodlands in Nottinghamshire where dormice have been reintroduced using acoustic recorders, and analysed the data using a bespoke automated species detector I created using the recordings of the dormouse vocalisations that I collected. I was then able to successfully use acoustic surveying to detect dormice”.

Jen has also been working with the Nottinghamshire Dormouse Group, who have been working to reintroduce dormice since 1994. Here she said, “The latest reintroduction was June 2019 and I was lucky enough to be involved with this as part of my voluntary work with Nottinghamshire dormouse group”.