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Dr Anthony Caravaggi

Biography

Anthony is a conservation biologist who has broad interests in ecology (e.g. urban, community, movement, spatial, invasive, behavioural), particularly of rare and threatened species, applying technology to conservation questions, and studies which have the potential to influence management and conservation processes.

He began his academic career at Bangor University where he achieved a first-class Bachelor’s degree (BSc) in biodiversity conservation. He gained his Master’s by Research (MRes) at the University of Leeds where he studied wetland bird ecology and the genetics of eusocial insects. His PhD studies were conducted at Queen’s University Belfast and were focused on the impacts of invasive European hares on native Irish hares.

His postdoctoral research at UCC is focused on studying the impacts of forestry on the breeding success of hen harriers, a threatened bird of prey, in Ireland, as part of the Supporting Hen harriers in Novel Environments (SHINE) project . He is a Visiting Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast where he is studying movement ecology and invasive species, and part of the Hare Survey of Ireland 2017-19 team.

Anthony is a keen science communicator and has delivered talks to audiences of all ages and from all backgrounds, and runs the popular Twitter-based biology project, Biotweeps (@biotweeps). He has also featured in national and international media via the internet, printed media, radio and television.

Publications

1. Caravaggi A, Montgomery WI, Reid N (2017) Management and control of invasive brown hares (Lepus europaeus): contrasting attitudes of selected environmental stakeholders and the wider rural community. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Biology & Environment. 117B: 1-11. doi: 10.3318/bioe.2017.08
2. Tennant JP, Graziotin D, Jacques DC, Waldner F, Dugan JM, Mietchen D, Elkhatib Y, Collister LB, Pikas CK, Crick T, Masuzzo P, Caravaggi A, et al. (2017) A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review. F1000Research. 6:1151. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.12037.1
3. Caravaggi A, Banks P, Burton C, Finlay CMV, Hayward M, Haswell, PM, Rowcliffe JM, Wood M (2017) A review of camera trapping for conservation behaviour research. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. doi: 10.1002/rse2.48
4. Caravaggi A, Leach K, Santilli F, Rintala J, Helle P, Tiainen J, Bisi F, Martinoli A, Montgomery WI, Reid N (2017) Niche overlap of mountain hare subspecies and the vulnerability of their ranges to invasion by the European hare; the (bad) luck of the Irish. Biological Invasions. 19(2): 655-674. doi: 10.1007/s10530-016-1330-z
5. Caravaggi A, Zaccaroni M, Riga F, Schai-Braun SC, Dick JTA, Montgomery WI, Reid N (2016) An invasive-native mammalian species replacement process captured by camera trap survey Random Encounter Models. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. 2: 45-58. doi: 10.1002/rse2.11
6. Caravaggi A, Montgomery WI, Reid N et al. (2015) Range expansion and comparative habitat use of insular, congeneric lagomorphs: invasive European hares Lepus europaeus and endemic Irish hares Lepus timidus hibernicus. Biological Invasions. 17(2): 687-698. doi: 10.1007/s10530-014-0759-1

Professional Activity

Media Coverage

• Radio: BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC News, RTE Radio 1
• Television: Countryfile (BBC), RTE Television
• Other media: BBC News (online), Mid-Ulster Mail, Irish Times, several blogs and podcasts