Benjamin Michael Marshall

I am a PhD student in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling, funded by IAPETUS2 Doctoral Training Programme. My PhD project is aiming to use agent-based models to simulate animal movement, and with those simulations explore how researcher choice can influence the findings from animal tracking datasets.

My first degree was in Geography at the University of St Andrews, and immediately afterwards I was fortunate to get involved with a long-term biotelemetry project with the Sakaerat Conservation and Snake Education Team. My work with the team spanned radio-tracking King Cobras, to team management, and later data analysis. I remained connected with the team for the next five years, working with students at the Suranaree University of Technology tracking various species of snake.

In 2017 I undertook a Masters by Research at Bangor University using molecular methods to assess the potential toxic impacts of the invasive Common Asian Toad. Since that Masters, until my move to the University of Stirling, I was working as a full-time researcher at the Suranaree University of Technology. My research there largely focused on snake movement, both using primary data and more method-focused work. I also undertook projects exploring reptile images on social media and community science platforms. More recently I have been involved in projects using systematic web searches to determine the scope of reptile, amphibian, and arachnid trades.

My start in reptile research has also led to me co-producing and co-hosting a herpetological themed podcast that attempts to highlight and breakdown recent research in herpetology.