Richard Walton

Research Title

The pond pollinator pantry”: Assessing how pond management influences pollinators in the UK farmland landscape

More about Richard

Academic Qualifications

• 2015-2019: PhD Conservation Biology/Palaeoecology, University College London
• 2012-2013: MSc Environmental Science Distinction, University of Liverpool. Dissertation: Three week monitoring of methane activity at two closed landfills in the UK
• 2005-2007: BSc Plant Biology, Brigham Young University (USA)

Work Experience

• 2015: City Research Scientist 1, New York City Department of Environmental Protection
• 2014: Environmental Monitoring and Education Intern, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Freshkills Park

Committee Participation

• 2019-present: Organising Committee Member for 9th European Pond Conservation Network Conference
• 2016-19 Academic Year: Graduate Student Representative, Geography Lab Committee, UCL
• 2016-18 Academic Year: Organiser, Physical Geography Seminar Series, UCL

Teaching

I teach on the following modules:

• Environmental Change (GEOG0008)
• Physical Geography Field Research (GEOG0017)
• Ecological Patterns and Processes (GEOG0020)
• Reconstructing Past Environments (GEOG0021)
• The Practice of Geography (GEOG0016)
• Aquatic Systems and Monitoring with Fieldclass (GEOG0173)
• Scientific Basis for Freshwater and Coastal Conservation (GEOG0108)
• Biological Indicators of Environmental Change (GEOG0122)

I have also given the following lectures: 

• GEOG0038 - Freshwater Biodiversity; Ecosystem Services; Eutrophication; Water Framework Directive
• GEOG070 - Aquatic-Terrestrial Linkages
• UCL Conservation Society - Insect Insights II "British Lepidoptera", The effects of pond restoration on bee richness
• London Freshwater Group Semi-annual meeting Nov. 2018 - The Pond Pollinator Pantry
• Physical Geography Lunchtime Seminar Series - Understanding the impacts of scrub management on plant-pollinator relationships in a farmland pond ecosystem

Publications

Conference Participation

• 2-4th May 2017: 7th European Pond Conservation Network Conference, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal. Presented a poster on initial results of my fieldwork on pollinator communities at ponds. My poster won the "Best Poster Presentation" prize.
• 11-14th December 2016: Ecology Across Borders, British Ecology Society Joint Annual Meeting, Ghent, Belgium. Oral presentation on the effects of pond management and restoration on pollinating insect communities.
• 18-21th June 2018: IPA-IALA 2019 Joint Meeting, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden. Oral presentation on using macrofossils to reconstruct the palaeoecological history of farmland ponds.
• Oral presentation on moth pollen transportation at farmland ponds.. 2-7th June 2019: Europeas Societas Lepidopterologica Biennial Meeting, University of Molise, Italy

Research Grants, Prizes and Awards

• The Clan Trust Student Bursary, 2016
• The Mead Fund – Travel & Cross-Institutional Study Bursary, 2016 & 2017
• Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, Norfolk County Council, Research Materials Bursary, 2016