Dr Esther Kettel

Role

Esther is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation and programme leader for MSc/MRes Biodiversity Conservation at the School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences.

Esther teaches a range of subjects to postgraduate and undergraduate students on BSc Wildlife Conservation, BSc Ecology and Conservation, BSc Environmental Science and BSc Zoology. She is module leader for Principles of Ecology (L4), Wildlife Management (L6) and Introduction to Ecological Consultancy (L6).

Esther holds a broad research interest in ecology and conservation, with a particular focus on avian and mammalian ecology and conservation. Her research interests encompass population dynamics and species monitoring. She is currently supervising several PhD research projects, including:

• Using long-term data to secure the future of a species with minimal management (Adrien Gellé)
• Camera trap-based monitoring of the West European Hedgehog- detecting trends in population size (Paulina Pawlikowska)
• Use of passive acoustic monitoring to evaluate restored and degraded tropical savanna ecosystem in Africa (Consolata Gitau)

Career overview

Esther holds a BSc (Hons) in Wildlife Conservation, an MRes in Conservation Biology (with a focus on monitoring techniques for small mammals), and a PhD in Ecology (with a focus on the urban ecology of peregrine falcons).

Esther joined NTU as a lecturer in 2019. Prior to this, she worked as a Research Ecologist with the British Trust for Ornithology, where she collaborated with the monitoring team to conduct various analytical work on long-term datasets pertaining to bird population dynamics. Additionally, she has held diverse roles in wildlife conservation and ecological consultancy.

Esther is a fellow of Advance HE and her teaching has been acknowledged at the 2024 NTSU Outstanding Teaching Awards, where she was awarded an Outstanding Teaching Staff accolade.

Furthermore, Esther is a full member of the Charted Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.