Dr Graeme Buchanan
President
Graeme is a lifelong birder who, after a Zoology BSc at Aberdeen, worked on upland research in the UK and on island conservation in the Indian Ocean. After completing his PhD on Reed Bunting paternity at Sunderland University, he joined RSPB Centre for Conservation Science. There he researched upland and moorland birds before moving to international conservation, where he has subsequently worked on a broad range of topics and species, many using satellite remote-sensing data. He is currently Head of International, Conservation Science. He has served on BOU Meetings Committee 2010 – 2014 and BOU Council 2014 – 2018.
Prof Emma Cunningham
Vice President
Emma is the Director of The Centre for Adapting to Changing Environments (ACE) where she works to bring together different partners working and conducting research in the natural environment. Her own research is focused on how environmental challenges can impact on animal populations, with a particular interest on wildlife disease. She gained her BSc in Zoology from the University of Glasgow and her PhD in Evolutionary Ecology from the University of Sheffield. A Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship then took her to Cambridge, where she worked on the impact of avian brood parasitism on host reproductive strategies in neotropical birds. After a brief spell at University of California Santa Barbara, she has been based at The Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh, initially supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and latterly as a Senior Lecturer in Zoology. Her current ornithological focus is on the impact of parasitism and disease in seabird populations, on which she works in close collaboration with CEH and NatureScot on The Isle of May NNR. She served on BOU Council from 2018-2022 and is a member of the BOU Equality and Diversity Working Group.
Dr Hugh Wright
Vice President
Hugh has been closely involved with the BOU since 2010. As chair of the Engagement Committee he strengthened engagement with BOU members and the wider ornithological community, and helped to improve the transparency and inclusivity of BOU’s activities and decision-making. He also played a key role in establishing the Equality and Diversity Working Group, having previously served as an Ordinary Member on Council and the first Early Career Researcher Representative. Hugh works for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) where he specialises in marine evidence, including assessing the status of protected habitats, birds and benthic species in marine protected areas. Previously Hugh completed a PhD at the University of East Anglia, studying the conservation ecology of White-shouldered Ibis in Cambodia. Hugh lives in north Cambridgeshire where he enjoys patch birding.
Dr Mark Eaton
Honorary Secretary
Mark’s work focuses on monitoring, through surveys and the analysis of biological records, and reporting on the state of biodiversity through the likes of red lists, indicators and ‘state of’ reports both in the UK and overseas. After two decades at the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, he now works as Secretary of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel, and is also Chair of the European Bird Census Council. When not working, he’s most likely to be found birdwatching along the Northumberland coast.
Dr Mark Eddowes
Honorary Treasurer
Mark has a formal research training in physical sciences and has worked subsequently in technical consultancy from which he is now semi-retired. He has maintained his childhood interest in ornithology and natural history more widely in a voluntary capacity, primarily with his county ornithological society, the BTO and the BOU. This involvement has stimulated his current primary research interest in the linked themes of long-distance passerine migrant arrival phenology, breeding phenology and range shift in a changing climate. Mark has further interests in surveying a wider range of species, including breeding waders and Nightjar locally in the Peak District.
Dr Arjun Amar
Chair, IBIS Management Committee
Arjun is an Associate Professor at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was formerly a Senior Conservation Biologist with the RSPB in Scotland. Arjun’s PhD, from Aberdeen University, focused on the conservation ecology of Hen Harriers on the Orkney Islands. His research primarily focuses on the conservation of raptors and addressing human-wildlife conflicts. More recently, he has been developing strategies to mitigate the impacts of renewable energy on raptors in South Africa. Arjun served as an Associate Editor of IBIS for more than 15 years and was part of the Scientific Programme Committee for the BOUasm22 Citizen science and birds online conference.
Dr Tom Bradfer-Lawrence
Chair, Grants Committee
Tom is a Senior Conservation Scientist at the RSPB, where his work includes ecoacoustics, community ecology, and nature-based solutions to climate change. He undertook his PhD at the University of Stirling, studying the bird community of a human-modified landscape in the Republic of Panama. Prior to this, Tom worked in the conservation sector for many years, both in Scotland and overseas. Although he has studied a range of taxa, the overarching theme has been one of seeking opportunities to balance human needs with wildlife conservation.
Dr Lynda Donaldson
Chair, Awards Nominations Committee
Lynda is a Senior Conservation Scientist at the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science. Her research is broadly based on wetland species and habitats. She completed her PhD at the University of Exeter in Cornwall in 2017, focusing on papyrus swamp birds in East Africa. She then spent 5 years at WWT, working on species recovery science. Lynda was the Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee for the BOU Avian Conservation Translocations conference in 2024. She served on the BOU Engagement Committee from 2018 to 2022 and was previously a member of council for the African Bird Club. Lynda also completed the Homeward Bound programme during 2023-24; a global leadership initiative for women with a background in STEMM.
Ms Ros Green
Ordinary member (early Career Researcher representative) 
Ros is a part-time PhD student at the University of Liverpool, researching the migration of Common Shelduck in relation to offshore wind farms. She is also a Research Ecologist for the British Trust for Ornithology. Following her Zoology BSc at Bangor University, Ros has spent eight years as a professional ornithological fieldworker in the UK and abroad, monitoring, ringing and tagging seabirds, waders and passerines. She’s also completed the Homeward Bound Leadership programme, which is a global initiative for female leaders with careers in STEMM. As well as ornithology, she’s passionate about supporting, mentoring and coaching her peers.
Dr Catharine Horswill
Ordinary member
Cat is a Research Fellow with University College London (UCL) and the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Institute of Zoology, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Her research seeks to understand the mechanisms that determine how seabirds respond to environmental change. To achieve this, she have worked extensively on the population dynamics of temperate and polar species of seabird, addressing questions within two principal themes: empirically examining the processes that shape population change; and developing methods to improve realism in species monitoring and assessments.
She has been involved with the BOU since 2015, as the BOU Conference Support Officer she was a member of both the Engagement and Meetings committees, as an Associate Editor of IBIS and as a regular attendee at annual conferences.
Dr Alexander Lees
Chair, Records Committee
Alex is a Reader in biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University, working principally on the impacts of land-use change on bird populations. He has long maintained an interest in avian vagrancy and with James Gilroy recently authored the first book on the subject. As well as serving on the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (BOURC) he is a member of the United Nations Science Panel for the Amazon, the IUCN Species Survival Commission Red List Authority and the Manchester Biodiversity Action Group. He recently retired from the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee.
Dr Catriona Morrison
Chair, Meetings Committee
Cat is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of East Anglia. Her primary research interests lie in using citizen science data to understand the demographic and environmental processes influencing the population dynamics of birds, and inform conservation management. She is involved in mentoring and facilitating the development of Early Career Researchers. Cat is an Associate Editor of IBIS and has been a member of BOU Meetings Committee since 2020.
Dr Stuart Sharp
Ordinary member
Stuart is a Senior Lecturer in animal ecology at Lancaster University. His current research has two major themes: (1) the population ecology of river birds, including a long-term study of Dippers in Yorkshire Dales National Park, and (2) the ecology and conservation of Afro-Palearctic migrants. He has been an Associate Editor of IBIS since 2017. However, as a lifelong birder and an active ringer, Stuart is equally committed to promoting ornithology outside of academia.
Dr Leila Walker (she/her)
Chief Operations Officer
Leila has responsibility for the day to day management and running of the BOU including conferences and events, the business side of the BOU’s journal, IBIS, social media and communications, website development and content management and servicing BOU Council and its Standing Committees.
Dr Natalia Zielonka
Chair, Engagement Committee
Nat is a research fellow at DICE at the University of Kent. She is interested in the interactions between people’s wellbeing, nature engagement and biodiversity and her research informs the design of multifunctional landscapes. Prior to this, Nat researched the relationships between rewilding and shrubland birds as a Conservation Scientist at the RSPB, and the role of biodiversity in fruit farms in Brazil and the UK, during her PhD at the University of East Anglia. Nat has been BOU’s Social Media Support Officer and a member of the Engagement Committee since 2021, and she is committed to making scientific research and ornithology widely accessible and inclusive.