BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD (Cape Town)

John Day Building: 3.32

Activities and research interests

General ornithology, seabird-fishery interactions, evolutionary ecology (focusing on resolving closely-related species complexes), marine debris, solid waste management, the biology of oceanic islands.

Peter Ryan graduated from the University of Cape Town, researching the impacts of ingested plastic on seabirds (MSc) and the evolutionary ecology of buntings in the Tristan archipelago (PhD). After a post-doc at the University of California where he taught a senior course in ornithology at UC Davis, he returned to UCT in 1993 as Academic Coordinator of the Masters Programme in Conservation Biology at the Fitztitute. Although he mostly works on seabirds and their conservation, he has wide-ranging interests in avian biology, and still maintains an interest in plastic pollution, especially in marine systems. He has served as the President of BirdLife South Africa and is an associate editor of Antarctic Science and Bird Conservation International. He has been an honorary Conservation Officer at Tristan da Cunha since 1989, and is a member of Tristan’s Biodiversity Advisory Group. Peter has spent more than a year on Inaccessible Island, studying the island's endemic buntings as well as conducting surveys of threatened birds and conducting control programmes against alien plants. He is a keen birder and believes in the importance of promoting amateur involvement in ornithology. He has written several books about birds and their identification, and is scientific advisor to African Birdlife, a popular magazine about birds produced by BirdLife South Africa.

Current students

Doctoral

Robin Colyn: Assessing the distribution and population sizes of range restricted larks across an aridity gradient in southern Africa.

Kyle Maclean: Booms, grids and nets: intercepting macroplastic debris in rivers.

Kim Stevens: The foraging ecology and breeding success of Grey-Headed albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma  on Marion Island.

Marc Travers: Mitigating powerline collisions by breeding seabirds in Hawaii.

Masters

Chukwudi Nwaigwe: The importance of beach-goers as a source of beach litter. (Submitted Feb 2025)

Recent peer-reviewed publications

(A full list of publications can be downloaded here)

Adekola, O.E. and Ryan, P.G. 2025. Variation in wing and tail moult intensity in white‐chinned petrels. Journal of Avian Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03327

Morten, J.M., Carneiro, A.P., Beal, M., ... Ryan, P.G., ... and Davies, T.E. 2025. Global marine flyways identified for long‐distance migrating seabirds from tracking data. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34.  https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70004

Abeyrama, D.K., Risi, M.M., Connan, M., Ryan, P.G., Jones, C.W., Glass, T., Osborne, A.M., Steinfurth, A., Schofield, A., Pistorius, P. and Keys, D. 2024. Cryptic variation in the sooty albatross Phoebetria fusca: genetic and morphological differences between Atlantic and Indian Ocean birds. Conservation Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-024-01656-0

Benito-Kaesbach, A., Suárez-Moncada, J., Velastegui, A., Moreno-Mendoza, J., Vera-Zambrano, M., Avendaño, U., Ryan, P.G. and Sanz-Lázaro, C. 2024. Understanding the sources of marine litter in remote islands: The Galapagos islands as a case study. Environmental Pollution.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123772

Bentley, L.K., Phillips, R.A., Carpenter‐Kling, T., Crawford, R.J., Cuthbert, R.J., Delord, K., Dilley, B.J. , Makhado, A.B., Miller, P.I., Oppel, S., Pistorius, P.A., Ryan, P.G., Schoombie, S., Weimerskirch, H. and Manica, A. 2024. Habitat preferences of Phoebetria albatrosses in sympatry and allopatry. Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14966

Dunlop, J., Milton, S. and Ryan, P.G. 2024. Publication list of William Richard John Dean. Ostrich 95: 172-179. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2024.2380189

Gabriel, S.I., Hughes, J.J., Herman, J.S., Baines, J.F., Giménez, M.D., Gray, M.M., Hardouin, E.A., Payseur, B.A., Ryan, P.G., Sánchez-Chardi, A., Ulrich, R.G., da Luz Mathias, M. and Searle, J.B. 2024. House mice in the Atlantic region: genetic signals of their human transport. Genes 15(12).  https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15121645

Key, S., Ryan, P.G., Gabbott, S.E., Allen, J. and Abbott, A.P. 2024. Influence of colourants on environmental degradation of plastic litter. Environmental Pollution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123701

Paz, J.A., Pon, J.P.S., Copello, S., Mariano-Jelicich, R., Ronconi, R.A., Ryan, P.G., Dilley, B., Davies, D. and Favero, M. 2024. Great shearwater Ardenna gravis attendance at commercial fisheries in the Argentine economic fishing zone. Marine Ecology Progress Series 751: 173-187. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14748

Perold, V., Connan, M., Suaria, G., Weideman, E.A., Dilley, B.J. and Ryan, P.G. 2024. Regurgitated skua pellets containing the remains of South Atlantic seabirds can be used as biomonitors of small buoyant plastics at sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin 203.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116400

Perold, V., Ronconi, R.A., Moloney, C.L. , Dilley, B.J., Connan, M. and Ryan, P.G. 2024. Little change in plastic loads in South Atlantic seabirds since the 1980s. Science of The Total Environment.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175343

Reusch, K., Connan, M., Ryan, P.G., Butler, M. and Pichegru, L. 2024. Spatio‐temporal differences in the diet and trophic ecology of Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus) in South Africa. Ibis.  https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13344

Ryan, P.G. 2024. Notes on the birds of Schirmacher Oasis, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Marine Ornithology 52: 197-202. 

Ryan, P.G. and Seymour, C.L. 2024. In memoriam: William Richard John Dean. Ostrich 95: iii-vi.  https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2024.2366098

Ryan, P.G., Moloney, C.L., Dilley, B.J., Glass, T. and Schofield, A. 2024. The impact of storm-induced tree loss on the population of Wilkins’s Finch Nesospiza wilkinsi. Bird Conservation International 34.  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270924000303

Ryan, P.G., Moloney, C.L. and Connan, M. 2024. Recent changes in plastic bottles washing ashore on Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha. Marine Pollution Bulletin 209.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117292

Ryan, P.G., Pichegru, L. and Connan, M. 2024. Tracing beach litter sources: drink lids tell a different story from their bottles. Marine Pollution Bulletin 201.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116186

Schoombie, S., Wilson, R.P., Ropert-Coudert, Y., Dilley, B.J. and Ryan, P.G. 2024. The efficiency of detecting seabird behaviour from movement patterns: the effect of sampling frequency on inferring movement metrics in Procellariiformes. Movement Ecology 12: 59.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-024-00499-1

Stevens, K.L., Altwegg, R., Connan, M. and Ryan, P.G. 2024. Population growth of the grey-headed albatross population on Marion Island inferred using three analysis methods. Antarctic Science.  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000336

Welman, S., Green, J.A., Ryan, P.G., Parsons, N.J. and Pichegru, L. 2024. Body temperature and thermoregulatory behaviour in the Endangered African Penguin Spheniscus demersus. Bird Conservation International 34.   https://doi.org/10.1017/S095927092400025X

Bate, T.C., Ryan, P.G. and Underhill, L.G. 2023. Primary moult in the annual cycle of adult African Oystercatchers Haematopus moquini. Ostrich. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2023.2250560

Clark, B.L., Carneiro, A.P.B., Pearmain, E.J., Rouyer, M.M.,… Ryan, P.G.. et al. 2023. Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38900-z

Connan, M., Jones, C.W., Risi, M.M., Smyth, L.K., Oppel, S., Perold, V., Stevens, K.L., Daling, R. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. First evidence of mouse predation killing adult great albatrosses. Biological Invasions.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03177-2

Kennedy, M., Salis, A.T., Seneviratne, S.S., Rathnayake, D., Nupen, L.J., Ryan, P.G., Volponi, S., Lubbe, P., Rawlence, N.J. and Spencer, H.G., 2023. Phylogeny of the microcormorants, with the description of a new genus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 199: 310-317.  https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad041

Nourani, E., Safi, K., de Grissac, S., Anderson, D.J., Cole, N.C., Fell, A., Grémillet, D., Lempidakis, E., Lerma, M., McKee, J.L., Pichegru, L., Provost, P., Rattenborg, N.C., Ryan, P.G., Santos, C.D., Schoombie, S., Tatayah, V., Weimerskirch, H., Wikelski, M. and Shepard, E.L.C. 2023. Seabird morphology determines operational wind speeds, tolerable maxima and responses to extremes. Current Biology 33: 1179-1184.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.068

Rose, S., Thomson, R.L., Lee, A.T.K. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. The breeding ecology of the Agulhas Long-billed Lark: an endemic bird dependent on the remnant Renosterveld of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Journal of Ornithology.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-023-02123-2

Ryan, P.G. 2023. Illegal dumping from ships is responsible for most drink bottle litter even far from shipping lanes. Marine Pollution Bulletin 197.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115751

Ryan, P.G. 2023. Long-term changes in petrel populations on Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha, inferred from the diet of Brown Skuas Stercorarius antarcticus. Ostrich. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2023.2269479

Ryan, P.G. and Adekola, O.E. 2023. Pattern and intensity of moult in White-capped/Shy Albatrosses Thalassarche steadi/cauta. Ostrich. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2023.2263169

Schoombie, J., Schoombie, S., Connan, M., Jones, C.W., Risi, M., Craig, K.J., Smith, L., Ryan, P.G. and Shepard, E.L.C. 2023. Impact of wind on crash-landing mortality in grey-headed albatrosses Thalassarche chrysostoma breeding on Marion Island. Marine Ecology Progress Series. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14292

Schoombie, S., Wilson, R.P. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. A novel approach to seabird posture estimation: finding roll and yaw angles of dynamic soaring albatrosses using tri-axial magnetometers. Royal Society Open Science 10.  https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231363

Schoombie, S., Wilson, R.P. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. Wind driven effects on the fine-scale flight behaviour of dynamic soaring wandering albatrosses. Marine Ecology Progress Series. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14265

Suaria, G., Cappa, P., Perold, V., Aliani, S. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. Abundance and composition of small floating plastics in the eastern and southern sectors of the Atlantic Ocean. Marine Pollution Bulletin 193.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115109

van Emmerik, T.H., González-Fernández, D., Laufkötter, C., Blettler, M., Lusher, A., Hurley, R. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. Focus on plastics from land to aquatic ecosystems. Environmental Research Letters 18(4). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc086

Weideman, E.A., Perold, V., Donnarumma, V., Suaria, G. and Ryan, P.G. 2023. Proximity to coast and major rivers influence the density of floating microplastics and other litter in east African coastal waters. Marine Pollution Bulletin 188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114644

Graduated students

PhD

Deon Nel (2002) The impact of longline fishing on the seabirds breeding on Marion Island

Mareile Techow (2007) – co-supervised with Colleen O’Ryan. Phylogeny and phylogeography of four Southern Ocean petrels

Keith Barnes (2007) - co-supervised with Paulette Bloomer. The phylogenetics and evolution of Africa’s larks (Alaudidae)

Ross Wanless (2007) - co-supervised with Geoff Hilton. Impacts of the introduced House Mouse on the seabirds of Gough Island

Samantha Petersen (2008) - co-supervised with Les Underhill, Ronel Nel and Len Compagno. Understanding and mitigating vulnerable bycatch in southern African trawl and longline fisheries

Lorien Pichegru (2008, Strasbourg) – co-supervised with David Grémillet. Foraging strategies of vulnerable seabirds in the Benguela

Marta de Ponta Machado (2010) – co-supervised with Les Underhill, Rob Crawford and Rauri Bowie. Population dynamics of Great White Pelicans in southern Africa: causative factors and influence on other seabirds

Genevieve Jones (2011) Individual variation in reproductive success in the Wandering Albatross

Viviane Barquete (2012) – co-supervised with Ross Wanless. Using stable isotopes as a tool to understand the tropic relationships of seabirds off southern Africa

Jessica Shaw (2013) – co-supervised with Andrew Jenkins. Power line collisions in the Karoo: Conserving Ludwig’s Bustard

Alex Thomson (2013) – co-supervised with Phil Hockey and Nichola Raihani. Post-fledging begging and development in Southern Pied Babblers (Turdoides bicolor)

Lisa Nupen (2014) – co-supervised with Jacque Bishop. The evolution and conservation genetics of threatened southern African seabirds

Margaux Rat (2015) – co-supervised with Rita Covas, Claire Doutrelant and Phil Hockey. Dominance, social organisation and cooperation in the sociable weaver (Philetairus socius)

Martin Stervander (2015, Lund) – co-supervised with Bengt Hansson. On speciation in birds: genomic signatures across space and time

Alistair McInnes (2016) – co-supervised with Lorien Pichegru and Miguel Lacerda. Fine-scale drivers of African Penguin prey dynamics in Algoa Bay, South Africa, and their impacts of penguin foraging ecology

Kate Carstens (2017) – co-supervised with Rob Little. Nest boxes as a conservation tool for the Southern Ground Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

Davide Gaglio (2017) – co-supervised with Timothee Cook and Richard Sherley. Investigating the foraging ecology and energy requirements of a seabird population increasing in an intensely exploited marine environment

Dominic Rollinson (2017) – co-supervised with Ross Wanless. Understanding and mitigating seabird bycatch in the South African pelagic longline fishery

Tanja van de Ven (2017) – co-supervised with Susie Cunningham and Andrew McKechnie. Implications of climate change on the reproductive success of the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Tockus leucomelas

Otto Whitehead (2017) – co-supervised with Yan Ropert-Coudert and Akiko Kato. Comparative foraging ecology of Macaroni and Rockhopper Penguins at the Prince Edward Islands

Ben Dilley (2019) The effects of introduced mice on seabirds breeding at sub-Antarctic islands

Stefan Schoombie (2021) – co-supervised with Rory Wilson. Remotely sensing motion: the use of multiple technologies to detect fine-scale behaviour of breeding seabirds in a variable environment

Katharina Reusch (2021, NMU) – co-supervised with Lorien Pichegru and Pierre Pistorius. Foraging ecology of Kelp Gulls in natural and anthropogenically modified environments

Oluwadunsin Emmanuel Adekola (2022) Moult as a dynamic link in the annual cycle of birds: insights from seabirds and a long-distance migratory raptor

Daniël Cloete (2023) – co-supervised with Mark Brown, Alan Lee and Phoebe Barnard. The impact of habitat fragmentation on bird nectarivores and their pollination role in Tsitsikamma fynbos, South Africa

Christie Craig (2024). Conservation in a changing world: assessing the conservation status of an agriculturally adapted species, the Blue Crane

Vonica Perold (2024) Seabirds as monitors of marine plastic pollution

Danielle Keys (2025, NMU) – co-supervised with Pierre Pistorius and Chris Oosthuizen. Linking Foraging Behaviour and Demographic Responses of Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans on Marion Island

 

MSc by dissertation 

Onno Huyser (2000, with distinction) – co-supervised with Rory Wilson. Diet and foraging behaviour of Macaroni and Chinstrap Penguins at Bouvetøya, South Atlantic Ocean

Hannah Dickinson (2001, with distinction) The ecology, genetics and conservation of a translocated population of the St Lucia whiptail lizard Cnemidophorus vanzoi (Teiidae) on Praslin Island, St Lucia

Lisel Solms (2003, Pretoria) – co-supervised with Paulette Bloomer. Phylogenetics and speciation of African Bradypterus and the Apalis thoracica complex

Tyron Grant (2004 with distinction) – co-supervised with Paulette Bloomer. Molecular evolution and population genetics of the Nesospiza buntings

Shannon Hampton (2008) - co-supervised with Les Underhill. A preliminary investigation into effects of flipper banding on African Penguins Spheniscus demersus

Zach Vincent (2008) Survival and reproduction in a biennially breeding seabird, the Wandering Albatross

Alexandra Jansen van Rensburg (2011 Pretoria, with distinction) – co-supervised with Paulette Bloomer and Bengt Hanssen. Resolving the adaptive radiation of Nesospiza buntings using a genetic multi-marker system

Rowen van Eeden (2012, with distinction) – co-supervised with Lorien Pichegru. Foraging ecology of the African penguin Spheniscus demersus in relation to ocean physical processes

Mia Cerfonteyn (2013). The population status, breeding success and diet of Subantarctic Skuas two decades after the feral cat eradication on Marion Island

Philna Botha (2014) – co-supervised with Les Underhill, Richard Sherley and Tim Cook. The effects of prey availability on the endangered Bank Cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus

Corlia Meyer (2014) – co-supervised with Les Underhill, Richard Sherley and Tim Cook. The endangered bank cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus: the heat is on

David Green (2014) – co-supervised with Pierre Pistorius. Foraging ecology of Cape Gannets (Morus capensis) at Bird Island, Algoa Bay

Dane Paijmans (2014) – co-supervised with Phil Hockey. Investigating the possible change in breeding strategy of African Black Oystercatchers

Gavin Rishworth (2014, NMU) – co-supervised with Pierre Pistorius. Time-activity budgets of Cape Gannets (Morus capensis) at Bird Island, Algoa Bay

Minke Witteveen (2015, with distinction) – co-supervised with Mark Brown. The influence of a changing environment on the breeding biology and diet of Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus vetula) breeding in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

Blair Zoghby (2015) – co-supervised with Rob Little. Fine-scale movements and habitat use of the Southern Ground-Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

Stefan Schoombie (2015). The population status, breeding success and foraging ecology of Phoebetria albatrosses on Marion Island

Jenni Roberts (2016) – co-supervised with Ross Wanless, Christina Hagan, Lorien Pichegru. African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) distribution during the non-breeding season:  preparation for, and recovery from, a moulting fast

Andrew de Blocq (2017) – co-supervised with Robert Thomson. Disturbance effects of boat-based tourism on waterbirds at the Ramsar-designated De Hoop Vlei, Western Cape, South Africa

Christopher Jones (2018) – co-supervised with Richard Phillips. The comparative ecology of prions Pachyptila spp. breeding sympatrically at Gough Island

Ditiro Moloto (2019) Are there structural differences in the flight feathers among Procellariiformes related to the use of wings for underwater propulsion?

Laurie Johnson (2019) – co-supervised with Maëlle Connan. Assessing the effect of feather wear on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios, and the use of stable isotopes to determine predator diets in the Namibian Islands Marine Protected Area

Alexis Osborne (2020) Understanding moult patterns in albatrosses and petrels breeding on Marion and Gough Islands

Eleanor Weideman (2020) with distinction. Quantifying land-based sources of plastic pollution in South Africa

Farisayi Dakwa (2022) – co-supervised with Azwianewi Makhado. Influence of ecosystem variability on the demography and reproductive performance of two Eudyptes penguins, Macaroni and Eastern Rockhopper Penguins, at sub-Antarctic Marion Island, 1994–2019. 

Sanjo Rose (2023) – co-supervised with Robert Thomson and Alan Lee. Land use and breeding ecology of a renosterveld endemic bird: the Agulhas Long-billed Lark Certhilauda brevirostris

Lyle De Menezes (2023, NMU) – co-supervised with Maëlle Connan. Diet and plastic ingestion in two abundant, planktivorous seabirds breeding at Marion Island

Taylyn Bate (2023) with distinction – co-supervised with Les Underhill and David Melville. Moult strategies of Oystercatchers (Haematopidae) in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa

Nosipho Gumede (2023) – co-supervised with Azwianewi Makhado and Mduduzi Seakamela. Variability in the diet of Cape fur seals and their interaction with fisheries off the South African coast, 2010-2019

Abigail Ramudzuli (2024) – co-supervised with Dayo Osinubi. Flight feather moult patterns and stable isotope analysis in the Woodland Kingfisher

Tegan Walker (2024, NMU) with distinction – co-supervised with Maëlle Connan, Pierre Pistorius: Trophic ecology and breeding success of Brown Skuas (Catharacta antarctica)

 

MSc by coursework and dissertation 

Grant Benn (CB 1994) – co-supervised with Alan Kemp. The conservation status of the Saddle-billed Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis in South Africa

Andrew Mbiru (CB 1994) – co-supervised with Tim Crowe. A reassessment of taxonomic diversity in the Olive Thrush Turdus olivaceus in eastern and southern Africa

Keith Barnes (CB 1995, with distinction) The effects of an experimental hake Merluccius capensis/paradoxus longline fishery on procellariiform seabirds in South Africa

Ian Hood (CB 1995, with distinction) – co-supervised with Paulette Bloomer. Identification of a new Certhilauda species from the Karoo/Dune/Red Lark complex of south-western Africa

Jim Sakwa (CB 1995) – co-supervised with Paulette Bloomer, Joris Komen and Tim Crowe. Taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships among Tractrac Chats (Cercomela tractrac) as indicated by behaviour, morphology and mtDNA cytochrome b gene sequences

Kevin Shaw (CB 1995) – co-supervised with Tony Williams. Evaluation of the conservation status of bird species in South Africa's Western Cape Province

Debbie Swanepoel (CB 1995). An analysis of beach debris accumulation in Table Bay, South Africa, and A preliminary litter budget for Table Bay, Cape Town

Anna Ballance (CB 1996) – co-supervised with Jane Turpie. The recreational use value of beaches in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa

Anthony Emery (CB 1996). The biology and management of the regionally threatened Damara Tern Sterna balaenarum at Struisbaai, South Africa

Charlotte Morgan (CB 1996) – co-supervised with Jane Turpie. The Boulders Park African Penguin colony: a valuable ecotourism resource

Michelle Pressend (CB 1997). Strategies to reduce marine litter from land-based sources: An assessment of public attitudes and awareness

David Joubert (CB 1998). Small mammal and bird community structure in commercial and communal rangelands in a semi-arid shrubland in Namaqualand, South Africa

Sharon Bosma (CB 2001) Conservation in an urban setting: the dilemma of biological correctness versus social acceptability in managing the alien vegetation clearing programme in the Cape Peninsula National Park, South Africa.

Martim Melo (CB 2001, with distinction) – co-supervised with Colleen O'Ryan. Differentiation between Príncipe Island and mainland populations of the Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus, and implications for their conservation.

Paul Ndang’ang’a (CB 2001) – co-supervised with Morné du Plessis. A landscape model of grassland decline in Kinangop Plateau, Kenya; implications for conservation of Sharpe’s Longclaw Macronyx sharpei

Tilla Raimondo (CB 2001, with distinction) – co-supervised with John Donaldson and William Bond   Comparative demography of two cycads: implications for their conservation

Michael Mills (CB 2002, with distinction) Pair-bond disruptions and demographic bias associated with long-line fishing mortality: an individual-based model for assessing the consequences for Wandering Albatross populations

Christy Bragg (CB 2003, with distinction) – co-supervised with John Donaldson (NBI) The foraging ecology of Cape porcupines in a geophyte-rich environment

Arnold Okoni-Williams (CB 2003) – co-supervised with A.B. Karim. Anthropogenic effects on the diversity and spatial patterns of trees, shrubs and birds in a forest reserve in Sierra Leone

Harison Randrianasolo (CB 2003). Bird species richness and conservation of threatened west coast Renosterveld fragments

Mark Bidwell (CB 2004, with distinction) – co-supervised with Kevin Shaw. Breeding habitat selection and reproductive success of Blue Cranes Anthropoides paradiseus in an agricultural landscape of the Western Cape, South Africa

David Maphisa (CB 2004) – co-supervised with Steven Piper and Paul Donald. The status and conservation of Rudd’s Lark

Jeff Muntifering (CB 2004) Using habitat characteristics to model Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) high use areas: a novel approach to managing the matrix

Juliette Nansikombi (CB 2004) Impacts of helicopter flights on the birds of Dassen Island Nature Reserve

Kabelo Senyatso (CB 2004) – co-supervised with Les Underhill. Applicability of the IUCN Red List criteria at a regional level: a case study of birds in Botswana

Alfred Owino (CB 2005) Papyrus swamp habitat loss and degradation: impacts on endemic birds in Kenya

Benedictus Dundee (AMS 2006) – co-supervised with David Grémillet and Sue Lewis. The diet and foraging ecology of chick-rearing gannets on the Namibian islands in relation to environmental features: a study using telemetry

Marie Lauret-Stepler (CB 2006) – co-supervised with S Ciccione, J Bourjea, D Roos and D Pelletier.  Nesting seasonality and population trends of Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758), breeding on Esparses Islands, south-western Indian Ocean

Mwema Musangu (CB 2007, with distinction) The impacts of Great White Pelican predation on seabirds breeding on Dassen Island

Helen Hill (CB 2007, with distinction) Patterns of seabird attendance at demersal trawlers off South Africa

Jamshed Chaudhry (CB 2008) – co-supervised with Rob Simmons and Pat Benson. Are Cape Vultures (Gyps coprotheres) feeling the heat? Behavioural differences at north and south facing colonies in South Africa

Maike Hamann (CB 2009, with distinction) - co-supervised with Lorien Pichegru and D Grémillet. Conservation implications of the foraging behaviour of breeding Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis in the southern Benguela

Jessica Shaw (CB 2009, with distinction) - co-supervised with Andrew Jenkins. The end of the line for South Africa’s National Bird? Modelling power line collision risk for the Blue Crane

Deo Kujirakwinja (CB 2010) – co-supervised with Andrew Plumptre. The status and conservation of common hippopotamuses in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Michael Marais (CB 2010) – co-supervised with Rita Covas and Res Altwegg. The effects of colony dynamics and climate on a declining population of Sociable Weavers Philetairus socius

Christina Moseley (CB 2010, with distinction) - co-supervised with David Grémillet and Lorien Pichegru: Comparing body condition and foraging ecology of two populations of Cape Gannets on Bird and Malgas Islands

Sarah Lewis (CB 2011, with distinction) – co-supervised with Jane Turpie. The value of the African Penguin colony at Boulders, Simonstown

Emily Cressey (CB 2012) – co-supervised with Krystal Tolley and John Measey. The conservation genetics of a newly recognized Cape Peninsula endemic: Rose’s Mountain Toad (Capensibufo rosei)

Masumi Gudka (CB 2012) – co-supervised with Rob Simmons and Munir Virani. Assessment of pesticide concentrations in environmental and biological parameters from two Kenyan Rift Valley Lakes

Edward Rice (CB 2012) – co-supervised with Bronwyn Maree and Ross Wanless. Rory Lines: A silver lining for seabirds in South Africa’s demersal trawl fisheries

Maurice Schutgens (CB 2012) Collisions and biases: Estimating the impact of low-voltage distribution lines on the Ludwig’s Bustard (Neotis ludwigii)

Darlington Tuagben (CB 2012) – co-supervised with Patrick Morant and Jane Turpie. The vulnerability of the coast of Liberia to marine oil spills: Implications for biodiversity and renewable natural resource utilization

Lea Cohen (CB 2013) – co-supervised with David Grémillet and Lorien Pichegru. Increased foraging effort of breeding Cape Gannets fails to compensate for reduced prey availability

Craig Harding (CB 2013) – co-supervised with Ross Wanless, Christina Moseley and Lorien Pichegru. Tracking African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) outside of the breeding season: regional effects and fishing pressure during the pre-moult period

Dylan Irion (AMS 2013) Identification of the swimming behaviour of the Common Smooth-hound Shark (Mustelus mustelus) based on tri-axial accelerometer data

Annerie Lamprecht (AMS 2013) – co-supervised with Coleen Moloney. The abundance, distribution and accumulation of plastic debris in Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

Heinz Ortmann (CB 2013) Conserving Wilkins’ Buntings Nesospiza wilkinsi: an endangered, single-island endemic

Greg Campbell (CB 2014) – co-supervised with Richard Sherley and Tim Cook. Effects of temperature on gular fluttering and evaporative water loss in four sympatric cormorants in southern Africa

Rukaya Johaadien (CB 2014) – co-supervised with Antje Steinfurth. Comparative breeding biology of the Northern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes moseleyi on Gough and Nightingale Islands

Phil Massie (CB 2014) – co-supervised with Isabelle Ansorge and Trevor McIntyre. Responses of a deep diving predator to mesoscale oceanographic features

Robyn Milne (CB 2014, with distinction) – co-supervised with Susie Cunningham, Alan Lee and Ben Smit. Physiological tolerances of high temperatures in fynbos birds: implications for climate change.

Phenias Sadondo (CB 2014) – co-supervised with Susie Cunningham and Rowan Martin. The influence of temperature on parental investment in Common Fiscals and consequences for nestling growth

Salamatu Abdu (CB 2015) – co-supervised with Susie Cunningham and Andrew McKechnie. Does the availability of shade limit use of water holes by desert birds?

Francesca Fazey (CB 2015) – co-supervised with Coleen Moloney. The role of buoyancy in the dispersal of marine plastic debris and the impact of biofouling: does size matter?

Antonio Massot Mascaró (AMS 2015) – co-supervised with Coleen Moloney. Abundance and composition of marine debris in the surf zone of False Bay (South Africa) during summer

Julia van Velden (CB 2016, with distinction) – co-supervised with Tanya Smith. Cranes and crops: investigating the viability of Blue Cranes in agricultural lands of the Western Cape

Elke Visser (CB 2016) – co-supervised with Samantha Ralston and Alvaro Carmiña. The impact of South Africa’s largest photovoltaic solar energy facility on birds in the Northern Cape, South Africa

Tendai Chinhoi (CB 2017) – co-supervised with David Grémillet and Lorien Pichegru. Testing the Information Centre Hypothesis in a colonial seabird: Foraging information exchange among breeding pairs of Cape gannets (Morus capensis)

Corey Jeal (CB 2017) – co-supervised with Samantha Ralston. The impact of a ‘trough’ Concentrated Solar Power facility on birds and other animals in the Northern Cape, South Africa

Matthew Macray (CB 2017) – co-supervised with Alan Lee and Graham Alexander. Tortoise mortalities along fences in the southeastern Karoo, South Africa

Sydney Davis (CB 2018) – co-supervised with Tanya Smith. The movement and landscape use of Blue Cranes in the Western Cape

Oyena Masiko (CB 2018) – co-supervised with Azwianewi Makhado and Rob Crawford. Are Cape Cormorants (Phalacrocorax capensis) losing the competition? Dietary overlap with commercial fisheries

Gilson Montrond (CB 2020) – co-supervised with Rima Jabado and Ross Wanless. Assessing sea turtle, seabird and shark bycatch in artisanal, semi-industrial and industrial fisheries in the Cape Verde Archipelago

Brandon Opie (AMS 2021) – co-supervised with Coleen Moloney. Seasonal and long-term change in the abundance, accumulation and distribution of beach litter within Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

Sara Forsberg (CB 2023). Disentangling entanglement in Cape fur seals for better management of plastic pollution impacts

Shaidan Gonlag (CB 2023) – co-supervised with Patrick O’Farrell. Determining key catchments for litter trap installation in urban rivers using a GIS-based approach

Michelle Bouwer (CB 2023) – co-supervised with Susie Cunningham and Christie Craig. Blue Crane hatching success in the Overberg: assessing the influence of land-use class, temperature, and incubation behaviour

Abigail Campbell (CB 2024). Long-term changes in the incidence and characteristics of plastic ingested by White-chinned Petrels