Curriculum Vitae ================ A .pdf version of this CV can be downloaded here. Education Sep 2017 - Present PhD: Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences The University of Edinburgh Biodiversity - Ecosystem Function Relationships in Southern African Woodlands I am investigating patterns of tree species diversity and their relationship with ecosystem structure and function in southern African woodlands. I use large datasets from the SEOSAW project extensively to answer macro-ecological questions. I also utilise the SEOSAW plot network infrastructure to conduct my own measurements of woodland canopy structure using Terrestrial LiDAR technology. Most recently I have conducted a regional scale study of the interacting functional mechanisms which relate tree species diversity to woody biomass across multiple environmental gradients, using measurements from the SEOSAW plot network. Sep 2012 - Jun 2016 BSc Hons: Ecological and Environmental Sciences - 1st Class The University of Edinburgh Sep 2009 - Jul 2011 A-Levels: Geology (A*), Geography (A), Biology (A) Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, County Durham Research & Outreach Grants - Feb 2019 - Davis Expedition Fund - £4000 - Tanzania research expedition funding - Jun 2018 - NERC bursary - £980 - Applied Plant Taxonomy and Field Survey Skills course at Kew Gardens - May 2018 - Principals Go Abroad Fund - £350 - Mozambique SEOSAW Network Meeting funding - Feb 2018 - School of GeoSciences Facilities Committee - Research Equipment Grant - £2810 - Camera equipment for hemispherical tree canopy photography - Nov 2017 - James Rennie Bequest - £170 - Costs for British Ecological Society Coding Club Workshop - Nov 2017 - Centenary Agroforestry 89 Fund - £984 - Angola research expedition funding - Nov 2017 - British Ecological Society - Small Grant - £1500 - Funding to run Scottish Tropical Ecology and Biology Student Meeting - Nov 2017 - Institute for Academic Development - Action Fund Small Grant - £470 - Funding to run Scottish Tropical Ecology and Biology Student Meeting - Mar 2016 - Royal Society of Biology - Travel Grant - £500 - Canadian Arctic research expedition funding - Dec 2015 - Friends of Roslin Glen - Outreach Fund - £900 - Landscape history panel funding - Nov 2015 - Lothian Conservation Volunteers - Outreach Fund - £500 - Landscape history panel funding - May 2015 - Principal’s Go Abroad Fund - £350 - Peruvian Andes research expedition funding - Apr 2015 - British Travel Association Fund - £1000 - Peruvian Andes research expedition funding Awards - 2019 - Edinburgh Teaching award - Completed a programme aiming to improve teaching skills for higher education. Worked with a mentor over the course of an academic year to produce a series of reflective essays, drawing on pedagogical literature and teaching experiences. As part of the award I was inducted as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. - 2017 - SEECC Conference - Best Long Presentation - Best 15 minute talk from a group of 24 at the Scottish Ecology, Environment and Conservation Conference, hosted by the University of Aberdeen. The talk presented research on forest structure and climate induced range shifts. - 2017 - STEB Conference - Best Presentation - Best 15 minute talk from a group of 13 at the Scottish Tropical Ecology and Biology Student Meeting, hosted by the University of Stirling. The talk presented research on tree species competition interactions and climate induced range shifts. - 2015 - Edinburgh Award - Professional development course at the University of Edinburgh. Attended seminars on professional skills: public speaking, academic writing and leadership. Conducted self-evaluation over the course of one year. Manuscripts and Published Work - Godlee J. L., … - Tree diversity and woodland structure in Bicuar National Park, Angola. - In preparation - Diversity - January 2020 - Invited contribution to special issue: Biodiversity of Vegetation and Flora in Tropical Africa - Godlee J. L., … - Variation in forest canopy structure along an Andean elevation gradient causes species-specific stress responses in tree seedlings - In preparation - Plant Biology - April 2020 - Godlee J. L., … - Geographically and genetically distinct populations of scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) differ in resistance to damage by the large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis): a common garden translocation study - In preparation - Forest Ecology and Management - April 2020 - Rowland, L. … Godlee J. L. - Drought stress and tree size determine stem CO₂ efflux in a tropical forest - New Phytologist - 2018 - Daskalova, G. N. … Godlee J. L. - All is not decline across global vertebrate populations - bioRxiv - 2018 Research vision As I progressed through my undergraduate degree in Ecological and Environmental Sciences I developed a keen interest in whole ecosystem responses to environmental gradients, with a particular focus on tree competition and physiognomy as mechanisms which determine ecosystem function. I pursued this interest through my undergraduate dissertation for which I conducted a 56 day field campaign, studying competition interactions and eco-physiological traits in tree seedlings in the Peruvian Andes. This field work, along with four other notable periods of employment as a research assistant in the Brazilian Amazon, the Canadian Arctic, The Republic of Congo and the Scottish lowlands made me proficient in undertaking logistically challenging field-based science. During these short research contracts I have formed ideas about the development of novel methodologies in community ecology. Particularly, I am interested in using emerging technologies to answer ecological questions that have in the past relied on subjective and highly uncertain data. I have pursued many of my interests through my current PhD programme, in which I am using terrestrial LiDAR and the large SEOSAW plot network dataset to answer questions about the relationship between tree species diversity and ecosystem structure in southern African woodlands. I continue to conduct ambitious field campaigns combined with powerful statistical techniques to distill complex ecological data down to its basic mechanisms. I support the development of effective teaching in higher education. In 2019 I completed the Edinburgh Teaching Award, a programme encouraging self-evaluation and consideration of pedagogical technique. Since October 2016 I have worked with a colleague to develop “Coding Club” a supportive peer network for learning statistical programming at the University of Edinburgh. In the future I hope to forge an academic career in a university as I enjoy researching alongside other academics, sharing knowledge for the greater good, and writing robust inter-disciplinary science. Academic & Research Experience - May-Jun 2017 - Fieldwork co-ordinator - University of Edinburgh - Dr. Edward Mitchard - Managed the fieldwork season of a long term experiment in collaboration with the US Forest Service, the Wildlife Conservation Society and Paula Nieto-Quintano, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. Fieldwork was conducted in the remote and logistically challenging Bateke Plateau region of The Republic of Congo. I supervised the work of three students from Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville for three weeks. I also co-ordinated the work of 8-10 maintenance workers responsible for creating firebreaks around field sites. Fieldwork involved full growth and mortality tree censuses in 25 ha plots, followed by controlled burning of the plots. - Sep-Dec 2016 - Research assistant - University of Exeter - Dr. Lucy Rowland - Part of an 8 person research team with 6 weeks fieldwork at the Caxiuanã Esecaflor drought experiment. Extensive work with Li-COR 6400XT Portable Photosynthesis System, collection and subsequent analysis of leaf traits. Lab-work at the University of Exeter included use of CAN-EYE Leaf Area Index analysis software and developing a method for the analysis of foliar fungal infections from scanned leaf images. In Exeter I also worked with a large time series dataset of leaf traits collected a 10 year period to analyse the effects of experimentally induced drought on canopy tree growth and photosynthetic capacity. - Mar-Aug 2016 - Field assistant - University of Edinburgh - Dr. Isla Myers-Smith - Part of a 4 person field team with 2 months fieldwork at Kluane Lake Research Station and Herschel Island (Qikiqtaruk) in the Yukon Territory, Canada. I conducted an experiment investigating elevation-dependent patterns of seed herbivory, the data from which form part of a larger latitudinal study. Other work included the collection of a multitude of plant traits, ecological monitoring of vegetation cover, and investigating soil decomposition rates following the protocol of the International Tea Bag Index (www.decolab.org/tbi). - Jul-Sep 2015 - Field and lab assistant - University of Edinburgh - Dr. Pippa Stone - Part of a 5 person field team for 2 months in Manú National Park, Peru. Work included physiological and morphological measurements of seedling and adult tree species both in the field and in rudimentary field laboratories, as well as competition measurements for which I designed and executed the methodology. Experience using a MINIPAM-II portable chlorophyll fluorescence meter. - May-Dec 2015 - Research assistant and data analyst - Centre for Ecology & Hydrology - Dr. Stephen Cavers - Research assistant and data analyst for a common garden experiment investigating differentiation in Scots Pine seed stock in terms of growth, phenology and environmental resistance. I designed and conducted a study which investigated the resistance of tree seedlings to damage by pine weevils, an economically important pest of Scot’s pine in Scotland. In 2019 I prepared a manuscript to be submitted in 2020 for peer-review related to the findings of the experiment. Teaching & Outreach Experience - Sep 2018, 2019 - Field demonstrator for Ecological and Environmental Sciences field course - I taught groups of 4th year undergraduate students on a week long field course in near Oban, Scotland. I designed a group research project and mentored a small group of 5 students in their experimental design, data collection and analysis. I also ran optional clinics on the operation of hemispherical photography equipment for measuring tree canopy structure. - Oct 2017-Present - Web developer for SEOSAW - I designed and currently maintain the website for the SEOSAW network (Socio-ecological Observatory for Southern African Woodlands), using Jekyll, Bitbucket Pipelines, and Github-Pages. Notably, I implemented an interactive Javascript leaflet map of study sites, using geoJSON data compiled from the SEOSAW dataset using R. (seosaw.github.io). - Jan 2017-May 2019 - Copywriter for Agricology sustainable farming magazine - Part of a team of seven, writing summaries of online resources on the Agricology website. I write approximately two articles per month when requested, with a particular focus on soil enrichment and pollinator services. This work has given me valuable experience in writing for an informed but non-academic audience, as the websites target audience is farmers. Additionally, I have gained experience in working remotely, taking advantage of version control software for effective editing. (agricology.co.uk). - Oct 2016-Dec 2018 - Co-founder, tutorial designer, tutor for coding proficiency initiative (Coding Club) - University of Edinburgh - Founding member of team which set up a peer-to-peer learning environment for students and staff to overcome statistics anxiety and provide training in useful programming skills for the biological and environmental sciences. Key duties include creating online tutorials using Markdown and HTML, delivering tutorials to classes of up to 30 students/staff. Focusses include Shiny Web-Applications, hierarchical modelling, reproducible research using R Markdown. In 2017, Coding Club ran a workshop at the SEECC conference in Aberdeen on manipulating big data, attended by ~25 people. In December 2017, Coding Club delivered a workshop at the British Ecology Society Annual Meeting in Ghent. (ourcodingclub.github.io). - Sep 2015-Apr 2016 - Interpretation resources designer - Midlothian Ranger Service - I designed an interpretation panel to be installed in Roslin Glen, a Midlothian Country Park. The panel demonstrates the historical land use of the glen and the resulting landscape features. I also designed a series of factsheets for use in secondary schools and a QR code walking route with more information. I presented to Lothian Conservation Volunteers and Friends of Roslin Glen to secure £1400 to manufacture the product and procure licenses. Academic Service Positions - Mar 2018 - Organiser of the Scottish Tropical Ecology and Biology Student Meeting - Along with two others, I led organisation of this small 1 day conference hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh. The conference was attended by ~50 people, with 17 speakers and a midday skills workshop on creating effective academic posters. Together we secured in excess of £1500 of funding from the British Ecological Society, the University of Edinburgh Institute for Academic Development and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. - Sep 2013-Jul 2016 - Ecological and Environmental Sciences Student Representative - Year wide representative for degree programme. Acted as a liaison for student issues with staff, course content, deadlines, pastoral care. - Sep 2015-Jul 2016 - School of GeoSciences Convener - Elected student association position at Edinburgh University Student’s Association, representing the School of GeoSciences at Student Council and various other committees including the architectural board for the construction of a new GeoSciences faculty building. Skills developed in project planning, effective representation, creative problem solving, committee chairing. - 2013-2016 - Project Co-ordinator, Edinburgh University Conservation Volunteers - Liaison with Park Rangers and shared responsibilities with one other society co-ordinator to organise and direct group excursions for between 10 and 40 students, weekly during the university semester. Developed skills in logistics, team supervision. More practical skills in forestry, wooden construction, tool maintenance. Organisation of weekend residential excursions including cooking, transport and accommodation for up to 30 people. Quantitative and Programming Skills - R - Generalised linear mixed effects models using lme4/nlme and model selection using MuMIn. Structural Equation Modelling with lavaan and semPlot. Manipulation of large datasets using dplyr, including the Living Planet Index and GBIF databases. Batch data manipulation and analysis using the apply family. Spatial grid analysis using the spatstat package. Data presentation and analysis using the ggplot2 package. Experience using R Markdown to produce reproducible scripts and knowledge of creating Shiny HTML5 web-apps. - QGIS - Experience creating maps for publication and using GDAL both within QGIS and directly on the command line to manipulate and transform spatial data files. Integration of QGIS with online spatial databases such as SentinelHub and OpenLayers. - LaTeX - Experience constructing short and long documents with tabular and graphical elements for myself and others. Integration of citation management software, custom BibTeX .bib files and templating with custom .sty files. Creating custom Beamer presentation templates. - Git - Experience managing ourcodingclub.github.io and teaching resources using Git version control, branch management with multiple collaborators, closing issues, troubleshooting with git diff. In 2018 I ran two workshops at the University of Edinburgh on using Git on the command line. - Markdown - Tutorials written and delivered using Markdown syntax, integration of R, LaTeX, HTML and CSS languages in Markdown documents. - ImageJ - Advanced knowledge of area and colour threshold analysis using the ImageJ Macro Language. Professional Associations - Botanical Society of Scotland (Student Member) - Royal Society of Biology (Affiliate Member) - British Ecological Society (Student Member) - Royal Scottish Geographical Society