As the Earth’s climate begins to warm, scientists are struggling to make large-scale predictions about how species will respond. We can estimate how the climate will change and predict where suitable habitat for species will occur through time (the ‘climate-path’), but we do not have a good understanding of how well species will be able to follow their climate-paths. Without this, we cannot make predictions about how species distributions will change.
In my post-doc, I’m studying the effects of warming on species in the past (through the Holocene and late Quaternary), to improve understanding of range shifts and help to draw generalisations about how other species will move in the future.
I’m currently an 1851 Research Fellow with Regan, since finishing my PhD at the University of Cambridge in mid 2020. I did my undergrad and Honours (the Australian equivalent of a 1-year MRes) at The University of Queensland in Australia. I’m particularly passionate about polar conservation, and between Honours and PhD spent time working with the Australian Antarctic Division and the The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. See more at www.hannahwauchope.com