Simon Gillings

Principal Data Scientist

Simon works with colleagues across BTO to provide strategic leadership, and analytical and design input, into the development of data products for internal and external audiences. In parallel, he leads the development of tools for acoustic monitoring of birds.

Interests & Responsibilities

Simon’s main interests are in developing methods and applications that turn BTO data into accessible, robust and visually appealing products for different audiences and stakeholders. Through this, he aims to improve knowledge about bird populations and support conservation and management work.

Recent examples include the revised BTO BirdFacts and interactive Trends Explorer.

He is keen to integrate different data to produce improved insights. For example, he produces BTO Data Reports to contribute to Environmental Impact Assessments.

In parallel, Simon works with BTO’s Stuart Newson to develop bioacoustic monitoring tools, which are implemented through the BTO Acoustic Pipeline. A thorough understanding of the identification of birds by flight calls led Simon to develop tools for automated species identification using machine deep learning.

Simon is Honorary Lecturer at the University of East Anglia’s School of Biological Sciences.

Other Information

Simon is a keen birder and sound recordist, and regularly uses passive sound recording to monitor nocturnal bird migration. Simon maintains nocmig.com as a resource for others interested in starting to record nocturnal bird migration.

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Ecology, University of East Anglia, 1995
PhD: Diurnal and nocturnal ecology of Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria and Lapwings Vanellus vanellus wintering on arable farmland, University of East Anglia, 2003

Recent BTO Publications

Heywood, J.J.N., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., Kelly, L., Marion, S., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., White, D.M., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S. and Gillings, S. 2024. The Breeding Bird Survey 2023.

Heywood, J.J.N., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., Kelly, L., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S., Gillings, S. & Harris, S.J. 2023. The Breeding Bird Survey 2022. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk ISBN: 978-1-912642-53-3 36pp

Noble, D.G. & Gillings, S. 2023. Production of smoothed population trends when a key year of data is missing.. Research Report no. 748. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, UK ISBN: 9781912642434 12pp

Clark, J.A., Gillings, S., Clark, N.A., Cole, K.B., Breese, G., Woods, J.L., Bellman, H.A. & Robinson, R.A. 2023. How important is it to standardise the measured mass of shorebirds weighed at varying intervals after capture?. Wader Study 130 (part 1) View at journal website (DOI: 10.18194/ws.00297)

Martay, B., Pearce-Higgings, J.W., Harris, S.J. & Gillings, S. 2022. Breeding ground temperature rises, more than habitat change, are associated with spatially variable population trends in two species of migratory bird. Ibis View at journal website (DOI: 10.1111/ibi.13101)

Harris, S.J., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., Kelly, L., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S. & Gillings, S. 2022. The Breeding Bird Survey 2021. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk ISBN: 978-1-912642-37-3 36pp

View all BTO publications for this author

Content Related to Simon Gillings

Publication

The Breeding Bird Survey 2023

The 2023 BBS report celebrates the survey’s 30th anniversary, and the commitment and dedication of nearly 9,000 volunteers who have contributed since 1994.