James Stroud

James completed his degree in Zoology with Conservation at the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), the University of Wales, Bangor in the summer of 2008. He has a keen interest in terrestrial ecology, with particular interest in herpetofaunal studies. He joined the Centre for Marine and Environmental Studies (CEMS) at the start of 2009 to begin a Masters research project investigating the spatial ecology of the European adder (Vipera berus) in coniferous forestry plantations in the North York moors national park, under the supervision of Dr Philip Wheeler and in conjunction with the Forestry Commission. His research is investigating the determinants of optimal habitat for existing adder populations in managed forests, with resulting implications for future local conservation of the species.

He completed his undergraduate thesis under the supervision of Dr Wolfgang Wüster, entitled ‘The effect of habitat disturbance on herpetofaunal community composition in a tropical rainforest’, after a season of field research in 2007 in the Lambusango and Kakenawe forests on Buton Island, south-east Sulawesi in Indonesia. The following year he was asked to return as a research assistant to Dr Graeme Gillespie collecting data in an ongoing ten year study of the island’s herpetofauna and to help supervise undergraduate thesis research. It was there where he met Dr Wheeler whose glorious tales of north Yorkshire enticed him to follow him to Scarborough.

In September 2009 he was awarded a grant from the Roberts Fund to organise and host a postgraduate research conference at the University of Hull. The day consisted of postgraduate students from across the scientific spectrum being able to openly and informally present their current research to academics and fellow postgraduates.

James has worked closely with the herpetological department at the Zoological Society of London for nearly a decade, working in breeding programs for a number of endangered species. Most recently he was involved in the first recorded breeding of Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) through parthenogenesis. While an undergraduate at the University of Wales, Bangor, he formed and chaired the first university affiliated herpetological society in the UK. The society has continued to grow since he graduated and left, with many enthusiastic herpetologists choosing to study at the School of Biological Sciences with its great selection of herpetological research academics.

James is a keen diver, first learning in the coral reefs along the western coast of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Since then he has dived in various sites around the world, most notably in Indonesia, Europe and, of course, enjoyably in the warm waters of the UK. He is currently hoping to begin training for his Dive Master qualification. James is also a keen follower of football and is a passionate supporter of, what can only be described as, the pride of west London – Queens Park Rangers.