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University of Oxford
School of Geography and the Environment

 School of Geography and the Environment

Professor Robert J. Whittaker

Academic Profile

Rob Whittaker has a BSc in Botany and Geography from the University of Hull (1980), an MSc in Ecology from University College North Wales (1982), and a doctorate from University College Cardiff (1985), where he studied vegetation succession on recently deglaciated terrain, in the Jotunheimen, Norway. He joined the Oxford School of Geography and the Environment in 1986, having previously worked for a year as a research officer at Birkbeck College, London. In 1990 he was appointed to a university lectureship and a fellowship at St Edmund Hall. In 1999 he was awarded the title of Reader and, in 2004, Professor of Biogeography.

Rob has published over 80 peer-review articles and is also the author of Island Biogeography: ecology, evolution, and conservation (OUP, first edition 1998; second edition 2007). Recently collaborations within Rob's research group have included two Marie Curie fellows (Dr Miguel Araújo and Dr Kostas Triantis) and three Rhodes Scholars (Dr Niall O'Dea, Dr Ben Sharp and Dr James Watson).

From 1995 to 2004 Rob was the editor-in-chief of Global Ecology & Biogeography - a journal of macroecology, and in mid-2004 he became editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biogeography, the leading international journal of biogeography. Rob is a founding member of the International Biogeography Society, was a Director-at-Large from 2005-2006, was co-convener of the biennial meeting, Tenerife 9-13 January 2007, and was President of the International Biogeography Society for 2009-2010.

Rob Whittaker was appointed to an Honorary Professorship in Macroecology and Climate at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen from July 2008 for a five year term. He was admitted as a Fellow of the Society of Biology in September 2011.

Current Research

Rob is a member of the Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Conservation research cluster. He works on island biogeography, conservation biogeography, diversity theory and macroecology and is a core member of the Conservation Biogeography and Macroecology Programme. His recent and ongoing research programmes have involved international collaborations with laboratories in Greece, Portugal and Spain including the following projects as member or partner:

  • Species-area relationship: new challenges for an old pattern. 2007-2008: European Commission, 6th Framework Programme on Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (Marie Curie Actions, Intra-European Fellowships held by Kostas A. Triantis).
  • Native and invasive species on islands: the functionality perspective. Fundação da Ciência e Tecnologia, funding 2008-2010; partner on project led by Dr Paulo Borges of the Azorean Biodiversity Group, University of the Azores.
  • Predicting extinctions on islands: a multi-scale assessment (Project FCT- PTDC/BIA-BEC/100182/2008; [partner on project led by Dr Paulo Borges of the Azorean Biodiversity Group, University of the Azores] (2010-2013).
  • Biodiversity on oceanic islands: towards a unified theory (PTDC/BIA-BIC/119255/2010 Budget: 99 000 Euros); Starting July 2012.
  • Palaeoecological studies in the Canary Islands
    Please also see: The long-term dynamics of the Macaronesian islands and their biota.
    1. Laguna Grande in the National Park of Garajonay [Ref: 003/2008; Spanish Ministry of the Environment, and Rural and Marine Environs, 2008-2009; PI: J.M. Fernández-Palacios, participants: K.J. Willis, R.J. Whittaker, and L. de Nascimento].
    2. History of Canarian vegetation since Last Glacial Maximum: using the past to manage the future [Ref: CGL2009-10939; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, 2010-2012); PI: J.M. Fernández-Palacios, participants: K.J. Willis, R.J. Whittaker, R. Otto, and L. de Nascimento].
    3. Vegetation history in Tenerife during the Holocene [Ref: SolSubC200801000053; Canarian Government, 2009-2012; PI: J.M. Fernández-Palacios, participants: K.J. Willis, R.J. Whittaker, S. Nogué, and L. de Nascimento].
  • Island-Biodiv: Understanding biodiversity dynamics in tropical and subtropical island in an aid to science based conservation action. Member of steering group for project provisionally selected for funding under the Netbiome 2010 call. PI: Brent Emerson.

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

Rob teaches the 'Ecology of the Biosphere' module of the 'Earth System Processes' course for the Preliminary Examination. He also teaches on the Option course 'Biogeography, Biodiversity and Conservation' for the Final Honour School.

Postgradate Teaching

Rob teaches 'Conservation Biogeography', 'Strategic Conservation Planning' and takes the Tenerife Field Course for the MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Management. Rob also acts as college adviser to around four students a year on the MSc in BCM within St Edmund Hall.

Current graduate students include:
  • Eden Cottee-Jones
    The role of Ficus trees in tropical countryside conservation biogeography
  • Thomas Matthews
    Analysing, modelling and mitigating the impact of habitat destruction and fragmentation on species diversity: a global perspective
  • Leticia Ochoa Ochoa
    The amphibian meta-community structure in three Mexican landscapes and its relationship with ecological and geographical space
D.Phil. students successfully completing since 2001:
  • Cecile Girardin (2011)
    Tropical montane forest ecosystem responses to mean temperature change
  • Ana Malhado (2009)
    The functional biogeography of the Amazon forest canopy.
  • Janice Golding (2008)
    Change in plant biodiversity of the Flora Zambesiaca region of south-central Africa.
  • Niall O'Dea (2005)
    A contribution to the conservation biogeography of the tropical Andean avifauna.
  • Carter Ingram (2004)
    An exploration of forest change, condition and composition with implications for conservation in Madagascar.
  • James Watson (2004)
    Bird responses to habitat fragmentation at different spatial scales: illustrations from Madagascan and Australian case studies.
  • Paul Jepson (2001)
    The potential of bio-regional management models to create a more effective and equitable biodiversity conservation policy in Indonesia.

Selected Publications

Books
  • Cover: Conservation BiogeographyLadle, R.J. and Whittaker, R.J. (eds.) (2011) Conservation Biogeography. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. 320 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4443-3503-3.
  • Cover: BiogeographyLomolino, M.V., Riddle, B.R., Whittaker, R.J. and Brown, J.H. (2010) Biogeography, 4th edition. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, USA. ISBN: 978-0-87893-494-2.
  • Cover: Island Biogeography: ecology, evolution, and conservationWhittaker, R.J. and Fernández-Palacios, J.M. (2007) Island Biogeography: ecology, evolution, and conservation, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 412 pp. ISBN: 978-0-19-856612-0.
Papers and Articles