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Current Postgraduate Research Students

Jonathan Grey supervises 1 postgraduate research students. If these students have produced research profiles, these are listed below:

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Professor Jonathan Grey

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Jonathan Grey

Lancaster University

LEC Building

LA1 4YQ

Lancaster

Research overview

Jonathan has spent the last 20 years applying various stable isotope approaches to answer ecological questions, primarily in aquatic ecosystems. He has two main threads to his research: the role of methane-derived carbon fuelling freshwater food webs, and assessing the direct and indirect effects of invasive non-native species (crayfish and amphipods in particular) within recipient ecosystems.

As Professor in Practice with The Wild Trout Trust, Jonathan will be developing future research to tackle issues (e.g. connectivity, habitat degradation / restoration, stocking) affecting the iconic sentinel species, the brown trout (Salmo trutta).

Career Details

2015-                   Research & Conservation Officer, The Wild Trout Trust

2015-                   Visiting Professor, Queen Mary University of London

2012-2015            Reader in Aquatic Ecology, Queen Mary University of London

2009-2012            Senior Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology, Queen Mary University of London

2005-2008            Lecturer in Freshwater Biology, Queen Mary University of London

2001-2005            Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Limnology, Plön,Germany

1998-2001            PDRA (NERC GR3/11340) Lancaster University, UK

1997-1998            PDRA (NERC GR9/02997) Lancaster University, UK

1996-1997            PDRA (NERC GR9/02473) Lancaster University, UK

Research Interests

Jonathan’s published work includes >75 refereed journal papers (see link above), the majority using stable isotopes (SI) in some form. He has been instrumental in the development of SI as a tool in aquatic ecology: sample preparation (e.g. lipids, lipid extraction, preservative use), isotope-derived metrics, and interspecific variability. He published one of the first studies to identify the extensive subsidy of production within a large lake (Loch Ness) by terrestrial carbon (as a PDRA at Lancaster University), and revealed the widespread use of methane-derived carbon within freshwater ecosystems. Most of his recent isotope-metric work is applied to the study of invasive species.

Major funders for his work have been:

Current Research

Jonathan’s current research projects include:

  • a NERC International Opportunities Fund: Watershed determinants of terrestrial resource use by aquatic organisms across the world's freshwater hotspots
  • the NERC funded Human Modified Tropical Forests programme (Borneo), as a PI on the LOMBOK consortium, assessing the relative contributions from the green and brown food webs being channelled to species of conservation concern  
  • the NERC funded Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service Sustainability programme, as a PI on the DURESS consortium, assessing trophic structure in river & stream ecosystems flowing through different land management regimes
  • PI on a NERC standard grant: Manipulating the phototrophic and chemosynthetic basis of production in rivers.  

The PhD students he supervises work on a range of topics related to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem functioning, and invasive species, and have field sites spanning from around the UK, Kenya and Borneo.

External Roles

Jonathan is 0.8 fte Research & Conservation Officer for the Wild Trout Trust and hence the majority of his time is taken up in that role.

He has acted as an evaluator for Canada Foundation for Innovation, the NERC, numerous EU Research Councils, and is currently:

Other Interests and Hobbies

When he is not trying to work out what is going on beneath the surface of the water, Jonathan likes to apply his ecological knowledge whilst fly-fishing to tempt trout (amongst other fish) above it. But catching is only a very small part of the wider enjoyment of being outdoors

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