Dr Jo Beukers-Stewart
Senior Lecturer in Zoology & Biology
I am a senior lecturer with over 20 years international experience in research, teaching and consultancy work. I have a wide area of interest which focusses particularly on the intersection between ecology, the environment and anthropological factors.
My ongoing fascination with coral reef fish ecology began with a PhD on the Great Barrier Reef. I was interested in the factors regulating a damselfish population and was among the first to demonstrate density dependant mortality in a coral reef system.
Since then I have written reports for government both here and in Australia, worked for the Wildlife Trusts and Marine Conservation Society and undertaken consultancy projects around the world. Stakeholder engagement and management has also been a key theme particularly in fisheries management. New research considers climate change impacts on marine molluscs. This experience forms an integral part of my teaching and course planning.
Over the years I have taught a great variety of modules and I have been involved in developing a number of programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Most recently I lead the successful validation of the new marine biology degree here at Chester.
I am currently responsible for leading the undergraduate dissertation module and supervising projects in a range of ecological and environmental topics. I also lead the level 6 module Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainability and guest lecture on the level 4 module Global Biodiversity.
I have a wide area of interest which focusses particularly on the intersection between ecology, the environment and anthropological factors.
One of my main research interests involves the impact of climate change on marine invertebrate distribution and physiology. Another focus is on microhabitat preferences and their importance for individual survivorship. Recent work assessed preferences of juvenile Hylid frogs in the Peruvian Amazonian rainforest. Other research interests broadly include conservation, re-introduction biology, human-wildlife conflict and public perceptions of, and engagement in, a range of environmental issues.
Beukers-Stewart BD, Beukers-Stewart JS and Jones GP (2011) Behavioural and Developmental responses of predatory coral reef fish to variation in abundance of prey. Coral Reefs, 30 (3). pp. 855-864. ISSN 1432-0975.
Beukers-Stewart BD and Beukers-Stewart JS(2009) Principles for the Management of Inshore Scallop Fisheries around the United Kingdom. Report to Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage and Countryside Council for Wales. University of York. 57pp.
- PhD in Coral Reef Fish Ecology. James Cook University, Queensland, Australia
- BSc (Hons) in Biology. University of York, UK
- Teaching qualification University Centre Askham Bryan, York, UK