Dr Helen Taylor
Conservation Programme Manager
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Helen has a strong background in field-based conservation research, focusing on translocations and genetics. The majority of Helen’s work to date has been in New Zealand, where she lived and worked for eight years before returning to the UK to join RZSS. She has also worked in the Peruvian Amazon. In New Zealand, Helen spent a lot of time on offshore islands studying protected bird species such as kiwi, South Island robin, and hihi. Her research interests included inbreeding, fertility, reproductive success, and translocation management of these species. Much of her time was spent solving issues around how to collect robust data from difficult species in remote locations. Helen is also a keen science communicator, and has conducted work to bridge the communication gap between conservation researchers and practitioners, and on making conservation research more accessible to the general public. Currently, Helen’s role at RZSS includes managing the beaver project at Knapdale Forest, as well as working on pine hoverfly and pond mud snail translocations.
BACKGROUND
PhD (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) Conservation Genetics and Ecology
MSc (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) Conservation and Zoo Studies
BA (Cambridge University, UK) Natural Sciences
OTHER POSITIONS
- Research Fellow – University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand on inbreeding and male fertility in threatened birds
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Papers
For a full list of Helen’s scientific publications, please visit her Google Scholar page here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nNYMtXsAAAAJ&hl=en
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News
27/10/2023
RZSS response to the UK Government’s intention to deprioritise species restoration
I was surprised and dismayed to read about the UK Government’s intention to deprioritise species restoration, which fails to recognise the importance of that vital pillar of biodiversity recovery, as well as flying in the face of recent guidance from the world authority for conservation, the IUCN.
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News
13/10/2023
Critically endangered wildcats now call the Cairngorms National Park home
The first round of wildcat releases in Scotland has been completed by Saving Wildcats, led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) in partnership with NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), The Cairngorms National Park Authority, Nordens Ark and Consejería de Sostenibilidad, Medio Ambiente y Economía Azul de la Junta de Andalucía.