Chris Wernham

Associate Director Country Offices

Chris is the strategic lead for BTO Country Ofices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, providing oversight of their programmes of research and the activities that underpin development of our supporter bases in each country.

Interests & Responsibilities

Chris's team at BTO Scotland is responsible for a programme of science that is relevant to the Scottish context, with particular expertise in upland/montane/moorland and forestry research, and raptors. We also have research interests in urban issues, seabirds and stakeholder engagement/human-wildlife conflict resolution. Chris's team has the additional responsibility of enhancing the coverage and relevance of BTO-led long-term monitoring schemes in Scotland, and working more generally to increase BTO’s overall supporter base of Members, volunteers and funders in Scotland.

Chris has a particular background in avian demography and migration/movements, having previously held the posts of Senior Populations Biologist (Ringing Scheme) and Migration Atlas Project Manager at BTO. Since joining BTO in 1996 she has worked on a wide range of applied and policy-driven conservation research, survey and review projects, including: the conflicts of fish-eating birds with fisheries; the population dynamics of Canada Geese; the effects of predatory birds on wildlife in Scotland; demography and management of urban gull populations; goose management policy in Scotland; and other applied work on seabirds (gulls and auks), raptors and geese. She has a particular interest in raptors, and was one of the editors of the field guide to surveying and monitoring raptors. She is BTO’s main representative on the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Group, on behalf of which BTO Scotland employs the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Officer, Amy Challis.

Other Information

Honorary Lecturer, Natural Sciences, University of Stirling
BTO Scotland representative on the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Group
Licensed bird ringer

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Ecology, University of Stirling, 1985-1989
PhD “Ecology and energetics of breeding Puffins: variation in individual reproductive effort and success”, University of Stirling, 1990-1993

Recent BTO Publications

Challis, A., Wilson, M.W., Eaton, M.A., Etheridge, B., Kortland, K., Mattingley, W., Steele, L.D., Stevenson, A., Stirling-Aird, P., Thornton, M., Titherington, J., Wernham, C.V. and Wilkinson, N.I. 2022. Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme Trends Summary 2009–2018. Link to publication

Booth Jones, K., O’Connell, P., Calladine, J., Noble, D., Wolsey, S., Carrington-Cotton A. & Wernham, C. 2021. Northern Ireland Lowland Breeding Wader Survey. Research Report no. 731. BTO Research Report 731 ISBN: 978–1–912642–21–2

Wilson, M., Calladine, J. & Wernham, C. 2020. Audit of local studies of breeding Curlew and other waders in Britain and Ireland. Research Report no. 727. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford ISBN: 978-1-912642-18-2 40pp

Espín, S., Andevski, J., Duke, G., Eulaers, I., Gómez-Ramírez, P., Hallgrimsson, G.T., Helander, B., Herzke, D., Jaspers, V.L.B., Krone, O., Lourenço, R., María-Mojica, P., Martínez-López, E., Mateo, R., Movalli, P., Sánchez-Virosta, P., Shore, R.F., Sonne, C., van den Brink, N.W., van Hattum, B., Vrezec, A., Wernham, C. & García-Fernández, A.J. 2020. A schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors. Ambio View at journal website (DOI: 10.1007/s13280-020-01341-9) 6pp

Ainsworth, G.B., Redpath, S.M., Wilson, M., Wernham, C. & Young, J.C. 2020. Integrating scientific and local knowledge to address conservation conflicts: Towards a practical framework based on lessons learned from a Scottish case study. Environmental Science & Policy 107 : 46-55 View at journal website (DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.017) 10pp

Jarrett, D., Calladine, J., Milner, J., Wernham C. & Wilson, M. 2019. Investigating wader breeding productivity in the East Cairngorms Moorland Partnership Area using collaborative methods. Research Report no. 723. ISBN: 978-1-912642-11-3 36pp

View all BTO publications for this author