Romy Rice

Current Focus

I am a third year PhD student at the University of Bath, and my current research focusses on improving the efficiency of environmental education and the quality of teaching of evolution, in areas of high biodiversity. I am currently based on the small, tropical island of Maio, Cabo Verde, and am evaluating the impact of integrating local biodiversity conservation and research projects into primary and secondary education. To do this, I co-ordinate a project monitoring the breeding ecology of an endemic subspecies of Cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor), collecting baseline ecology data, along with behavioural observations. I have been co-ordinating this project since 2016. By integrating examples of local biodiversity into school field trips and lessons, I am investigating which aspects of environmental education improve students’ attitudes, knowledge, and aspirations.

Before my PhD I was working as a research assistant for the ÉLVONAL project, based between Debrecen, Hungary and Maio, Cabo Verde. I worked in collaboration with Maio Biodiversity Foundation, the local conservation NGO in Maio, to collect breeding ecology and behavioural data of the Cream-coloured courser, and to produce research papers, including the first detailed paper documenting the breeding ecology of the Cream-coloured courser.

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Previous Research and Other Interests