Dr Sarah Taylor

Title: Lecturer in Ecology
Phone: +44 (0)1782 733025
Email:
Location: Huxley Building : 029
Role: First Aid Officer,
Honorary Research Associate, University of New Brunswick
Deputy Programme Director, Biology
Education Officer, GeoConservation Staffordshire
Contacting me: Try my office or arrange an appointment by e-mail.
sarah taylor

I was appointed as a Lecturer in Ecology at Keele University in 2008. My first degree, BSc (Hons) in Biology and Geology, was gained from Keele University, so I have personal experience of studying dual subjects and was very proud to graduate in 1998 with the John Myers medal for academic achievement. I went on to study an MSc in Ecology at Aberdeen in 1999, a Diploma in Statistics in 2001 and a research-based MSc in Geology in 2002, both from Trinity College Dublin. I then moved to Canada, where I studied a Diploma in University Teaching in 2004 and PhD in Forest Ecology in 2007 at the University of New Brunswick. My PhD, “nature’s graveyard”, examined forest stand dynamics after a spruce budworm outbreak and was funded by a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship. I moved back to the UK in March 2007, and took up an 8-month research contract with the North Research Station of Forest Research, before returning to Keele University almost 10 years to the day after I had graduated! I completed a Diploma in Teaching and Learning in 2010, and am currently working towards my Master in Teaching and Learning.

Sarah standing on jeep I am part of the Environmental Research Cluster in the Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (EPSAM), which promotes interdisciplinary research. My research focuses on plant ecology, with specialisation in tree-insect interactions, dead wood ecology, disturbance dynamics, forest mensuration, and the application of GIS and remote sensing. I am currently working on three research projects: (i) remote sensing as a tool to map invasive rhododendron in collaboration with Forest Research and Bournemouth University; (ii) balsam fir regeneration dynamics in declining softwood stands in collaboration with the University of New Brunswick; and (iii) GIS modelling of mosquito swarms in collaboration with Dr Frederic Tripet and Keith Mason of Keele University. My PhD student, Austin Haffenden, is looking at ways to integrate rhododendron invasion potential into a forest model. His thesis entitled “Model forest system: even-aged Douglas fir plantation with invasive Rhododendron” is due to be submitted in August 2013.

I have recently published a book on “biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases” with Prof Andy Dobson and Dr Kezia Barker, which came out of our very successful five-part ESRC funded seminar series on the “Sociopolitics of biosecurity: science, policy and practice”.  Please visit out dedicated seminar website  for further information and outputs.

I have always been interested in conservation and am an active member of GeoConservation Staffordshire, running many successful conservation work parties around the county. The next GeoConservation event will take place at Brown End Quarry on Saturday 15 March 2013 in collaboration with the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. I believe in taking an applied and field-based approach to teaching and have recently received funding from the Keele Learning and Professional Development Centre to carry out a study into “iPads as collaborative tools to enhance identification skills in the lab and field” to address the species identification skills gap identified by the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. This pedagogical research has come as a direct result of my engagement with the HEA Enhancing Fieldwork Learning showcase events. 

Selected Publications

  • Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). 2013. Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>
  • Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). 2013. Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>
  • Taylor SL, Dobson A, Barker K. 2013. Conclusions: biosecurity and the future - the impact of climate change. In Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>
  • Barker K, Taylor SL, Dobson A. 2013. Introduction: interrogating bio-insecurities. In Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>
  • Taylor SL, Hill R, Edwards C. 2013. Characterising invasive non-native Rhododendron ponticum spectra signatures with spectroradiometry in the laboratory and field: Potential for remote mapping. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. doi>

Full Publications List show

Books

  • Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). 2013. Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>
  • Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). 2013. Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>

Journal Articles

  • Taylor SL, Hill R, Edwards C. 2013. Characterising invasive non-native Rhododendron ponticum spectra signatures with spectroradiometry in the laboratory and field: Potential for remote mapping. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. doi>
  • Krause, S, Taylor SL, Weatherill, J, Haffenden, A, Cassidy, NJ, Thomas, PA. 2012. Fibre-optic distributed temperature sensing for characterizing the impacts of vegetation coverage on thermal patterns in woodlands. Echoydrology. doi>
  • SHARIK T, ADAIR W, BAKER F, BATTAGLIA M, COMFORT E, D'AMATO A, DELONG C, DEROSE R, DUCEY M, HARMON M, LEVY L, LOGAN J, O'BRIEN J, PALIK B, ROBERTS S, ROGERS P, SHINNEMAN D, SPIES T, TAYLOR S, WOODALL C, YOUNGBLOOD A. 2010. Emerging themes in the ecology and management of North American forests. International Journal of Forestry Research. doi>
  • Taylor SL and MacLean DA. 2009. Legacy of Insect Defoliators: Increased Wind-Related Mortality Two Decades After a Spruce Budworm Outbreak. FOREST SCIENCE, vol. 55(3), 256-267. link>
  • Taylor SL and MacLean DA. 2008. Validation of spruce budworm outbreak history developed from aerial sketch mapping of defoliation in New Brunswick. NORTHERN JOURNAL OF APPLIED FORESTRY, vol. 25(3), 139-145. link>
  • Taylor SL and MacLean DA. 2007. Spatiotemporal patterns of mortality in declining balsam fir and spruce stands. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, vol. 253(1-3), 188-201. link> doi>
  • Taylor SL and MacLean DA. 2007. Dead wood dynamics in declining balsam fir and spruce stands in New Brunswick, Canada. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH-REVUE CANADIENNE DE RECHERCHE FORESTIERE, vol. 37(4), 750-762. link> doi>
  • Taylor SL and MacLean DA. 2005. Rate and causes of decline of mature and overmature balsam fir and spruce stands in New Brunswick, Canada. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH-REVUE CANADIENNE DE RECHERCHE FORESTIERE, vol. 35(10), 2479-2490. link> doi>
  • Taylor SL. 2001. Factors affecting the distribution of the brittle prickly pear in the Peace River Prairies Canada. The British Ecological Society Bulletin, vol. 32(2), 29.

Chapters

  • Taylor SL, Dobson A, Barker K. 2013. Conclusions: biosecurity and the future - the impact of climate change. In Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>
  • Barker K, Taylor SL, Dobson A. 2013. Introduction: interrogating bio-insecurities. In Biosecurity: the socio-politics of invasive species and infectious diseases. Dobson A, Barker K, Taylor SL (Eds.). (14 vols.). Oxon, OX14 4RN: Earthscan from Routledge. link>

Other

  • Edwards C and Taylor SL. 2008. A survey and strategic appraisal of rhododendron invasion and control in woodland areas in Argyll and Bute.
  • Edwards C and Taylor SL. 2008. Determining the risk of Pinewood deterioration based on tree size (DBH), structure and regeneration density data.

Year 1

LSC-10033     Ecology and Environment

ESC-10028     Environmental Science Skills

 

Year 2

LSC-20002     Symbiotic interactions between organisms

LSC-20055     Life at the Extremes (Module Manager)

LSC-20054     Life at the Extremes (Semester 2) (Module Manager)

ESC-20038     Integrated Environmental Field Studies

ESC-20032     Environmental Analytical Methods (Supervisor)

 

Year 3

LSC-30004     Research Project for Biology (Supervisor)
LSC-30007     Dissertation for Biology (Supervisor)

LSC-30017     Trees in their Environment

LSC-30043     Conservation Biology (Module Manager)

ESC-30019     Applied Environmental Science Independent Research Project (Supervisor)

ESC-30031     Environmental Sustainability Dissertation (Supervisor)

 

Year 4 (MSc)

LSC-40026     Trees, Forests and Global Change