Tyler Cuddy

(he/him)

BSc (Hons) MSc

Research

Thesis

Tropical Mesopredator Ecology and the Effects of Heavy Metals on the Environment

Funding Sources

ECORISC CDT

JNCC (Case Partnership)

Teaching

PGR Demonstrator - October 2022-present - assist lab and computer practical sessions, field courses, and various statistics and bioinformatics courses within the School of Biosciences.

Supervise/advise final-year project students and MRes students with their research projects proposed as related to my PhD research. 

Biography

I am currently in the 4th year of my PhD at Cardiff University within the Organisms and Environment (OnE) division, focusing on ecotoxicology and molecular ecology. I investigate heavy-metal bioaccumulation in tropical carnivores living near oil-palm agriculture and link dietary profiles to contaminant uptake using dietary metabarcoding. As part of this project, I have conducted extensive fieldwork within the Bornean jungle, based at the Danau Girang Field Centre, where I sampled wild carnivores and their prey species using live capture and veterinary sampling protocols followed by safe animal release, sanctioned by the Sabah Wildlife Department and the Sabah Biodiversity Centre. I have also gained valuable experience through my CASE partnership with the JNCC during my PhD, with whom I completed a 3-month secondment working as part of their environmental pollution team.

Prior, I completed an MSc in Global Ecology and Conservation at Cardiff University, where I researched the spatial ecology of GPS-tagged white-tailed eagles whilst also gaining fieldwork experience as a warden with the National Trust on Skomer Island, and husbandry and science communication experience at the British Bird of Prey Centre. 

I completed my BSc in Zoology at Swansea University, where my thesis examined crab behavioural responses to nautical noise pollution. During this degree, I spent eight months in Malaysian Borneo on a year-in-industry placement at the Danau Girang Field Centre, gaining field biology and tropical ecology experience while working with endangered and endemic species.

Honours and awards

• 1st Class BSc (Hons) 'Zoology with a Year in Industry' - Swansea University (2017 - 2021)
• MSc with Distinction 'Global Ecology and Conservation' - Cardiff University (2021 - 2022) 
• ECORISC CDT PhD Studentship - Cardiff University (2022 - Present) 

Professional memberships

• SETAC Europe
• Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) 
• Genetics Society
• British Ecological Society

Committees and reviewing

• OnE Postgraduate Rep