Professor Gareth Jones
Gareth graduated from the University of London with a degree in Ecology, and then did his PhD on the behavioural ecology of birds at the University of Stirling. Moving to the University of Bristol in 1985 Gareth's career on bats began with a study on the aerodynamics of bat flight. He was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship combining his interests in ecology, behaviour and bat biology. Most bat researchers in the UK and researchers from a dozen countries have at some point worked in Gareth's lab either as PhD students or postdocs. Gareth has worked on bats on 6 continents, including recent projects in China, Madagascar, Malaysia, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi and Colombia. In 2011 Gareth was awarded the Gerrit S. Miller Award at the North American Symposium on Bat Research held at the University of Toronto in recognition of "outstanding service and contribution to the field of chiropteran biology." In 2010 he received the Ig Nobel Prize in Biology, awarded in Harvard for science that first makes people laugh, and then makes them think. Gareth's recent research has focused on conservation biology, especially global change biology and molecular ecology.
We are absolutely delighted to have Gareth as one of our bat ambassadors!
We are absolutely delighted to have Gareth as one of our bat ambassadors!
Get to know Gareth
What sparked your interest in bats?
Partly by chance. I’d just finished a PhD on bird behaviour, and was offered a postdoc working on the aerodynamics of bat flight. My main interests have always been in behaviour, ecology and conservation, so I able to combine these with my new fascination for bats when I was offered a Royal Society Research Fellowship at Bristol.
If you were another animal what would you be?
I’m fascinated by how other organisms perceive the world. I would like to start by being another human – if only to see the world through someone else’s eyes – and then something with extreme sensory adaptations. Of course it would be interesting to understand ‘What is it like to be a bat?’, especially by flying and echolocating, although a platypus using electrolocation underwater would be fun too.
Where is your favourite place and why?
Lecturing on a trip for university alumni around Galapagos. The history, tame wildlife, scenery, weather, sea cruises and socialising were wonderful.
Tell us something we wouldn't not know about you from your photograph...
I have a very friendly Bichon Frisé dog called Max.
Partly by chance. I’d just finished a PhD on bird behaviour, and was offered a postdoc working on the aerodynamics of bat flight. My main interests have always been in behaviour, ecology and conservation, so I able to combine these with my new fascination for bats when I was offered a Royal Society Research Fellowship at Bristol.
If you were another animal what would you be?
I’m fascinated by how other organisms perceive the world. I would like to start by being another human – if only to see the world through someone else’s eyes – and then something with extreme sensory adaptations. Of course it would be interesting to understand ‘What is it like to be a bat?’, especially by flying and echolocating, although a platypus using electrolocation underwater would be fun too.
Where is your favourite place and why?
Lecturing on a trip for university alumni around Galapagos. The history, tame wildlife, scenery, weather, sea cruises and socialising were wonderful.
Tell us something we wouldn't not know about you from your photograph...
I have a very friendly Bichon Frisé dog called Max.