Professional summary

Rob is an Ecological Modeller at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, applying a range of models to answer pressing biodiversity research questions. Rob's research primarily focuses on understanding how and why biodiversity is changing (the biodiversity crisis). He works across a wide range of taxa, spatial scales, and time periods - although most of his research falls under the disciplines of ecology, conservation, and biogeography.

Rob previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Göteborgs Universitet (University of Gothenburg) from 2019-2020 estimating the global extinction of birds through time. He has also held posts as IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group Project Officer at Marwell Wildlife (2014-2019) and as a Research Technician in Transient Demography at the University of Southampton (2014-2015).

He obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton in 2019 on the functional diversity of the world's mammals and birds, building on his MRes in Wildlife Conservation and BSc in Environmental Science.

Selected publications

Cooke Rob et al. , (2023), Protected areas support more species than unprotected areas in Great Britain, but lose them equally rapidly. Biological Conservation, 278, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109884

Skinner Grace et al. , (2023), Dynameta: a dynamic platform for ecological meta-analyses in R Shiny. SoftwareX, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101439

Mancini Francesca et al. , (2023), Invertebrate biodiversity continues to decline in cropland. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290, http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0897

Boyd Robin J. et al. , (2023), An operational workflow for producing periodic estimates of species occupancy at national scales. Biological Reviews, 98, 1492-1508, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/brv.12961

Cooke Rob et al. , (2022), Anthropogenic disruptions to longstanding patterns of trophic-size structure in vertebrates. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6, 684-692, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01726-x

Sayol Ferran et al. , (2021), Loss of functional diversity through anthropogenic extinctions of island birds is not offset by biotic invasions. Science Advances, 7, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj5790

Darimont Chris T. et al. , (2023), Humanity’s diverse predatory niche and its ecological consequences. Communications Biology, 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04940-w

Bane Miranda S. et al. , (2023), An evidence‐base for developing ambitious yet realistic national biodiversity targets. Conservation Science and Practice, 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12862

Other Publications

Ralimanana, H., Perrigo, A.L., Smith, R.J., Borrell, J.S., Faurby, S., Rajaonah, M.T., Randriamboavonjy, T., Vorontsova, M.S., Cooke, R.S., ... and Antonelli, A. 2022. Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Threats and opportunities. Science, 378(6623), p.eadf1466.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf1466

Antonelli, A., Smith, R.J., Perrigo, A.L., Crottini, A., Hackel, J., Testo, W., Farooq, H., Torres Jiménez, M.F., Andela, N., Andermann, T., ... and Ralimanana, H. 2022. Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Evolution, distribution, and use. Science, 378(6623), p.eabf0869.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf0869