Paul Dolman
Reader in Conservation Ecology
University of East Anglia
Norwich, UK
Involved with the BOU as:
Council member (as Chair of BOU grants committee)
BOU member since: Don’t recall
Most likely to be found . . .
. . . Fighting the email storm, with escapes to fieldwork
What is your role on the BOU Council or committee on which you sit?
As Chair of the BOU Grants committee I review a lot of really exciting and interesting research applications from around the world, and the panel supports all applications that offer good quality scientific ornithological research.
What do you enjoy most about your involvement with the BOU?
Involvement with the BOU and working face to face with extremely knowledgeable and genuinely nice people is always stimulating and brings fresh thinking.
What would you say to anyone who is considering joining (or leaving!) the BOU?
The BOU offers really valuable networking opportunities, especially to early career ornithologists, hosts excellent conferences that catalyse new research directions and publishes a world-leading scientific journal.
When did your interest in ornithology begin?
I became interested in ornithology in my early teens.
What are the big conservation challenges in the next decade?
To convince an increasingly urbanised population of the importance of biodiversity, to maintain extensive natural and semi-natural habitats in a planet where per capita demands for resources are escalating and where the human population is predicted to reach 10-12 Billion by 2100, and bring biodiversity back onto the global political agenda in its own right (not just as an add-on that might or might not come along with Ecosystem Services).