Lucie Bland
35 St Leonard’s Square, NW5 3HL, London. E-mail: lucie.bland@ioz.ac.uk Mobile: 07 50 39 999 67.
My research programme focuses on the effects of data availability on global biodiversity patterns and
conservation prioritization. Taking IUCN Data Deficient species as a model, I develop modelling techniques to
cost-effectively reduce uncertainty in biodiversity indicators. I have a passion for invertebrate macroecology
and macroevolution, and the sociology of taxonomists and scientists.
Education details:
January- June 2013: Visiting Fellow, Centre for Excellence in Environmental Decisions, Australia
- Visitor of the Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group, University of Melbourne.
- Visitor of the Macroevolution and Macroecology Group, Australian National University.
- Visitor of the Environmental Decisions Group, University of Queensland.
October 2010 – Present: PhD Student, Imperial College London and the Zoological Society of London, UK
Thesis title: Spatial biodiversity modelling in the context of data uncertainty, supervised by Ben Collen (ZSL), Jon
Bielby (ZSL) and David Orme (Imperial College London).
Acquired extensive knowledge of machine learning; spatial modelling; decision theory; Bayesian statistics.
Use of multiple global datasets: mammals, amphibians, freshwater crabs, dragonflies and crayfish.
October 2007 – June 2010: BA (Hons) First Class, Biology, St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, UK
Majored in Ecology and Plant Sciences.
Dissertation title: Comparative study of insect flight biomechanics.
September 2011 – June 2007: French Scientific Baccalaureate, Lycee International, Ferney-Voltaire, France
Overall average of 19.02/20, including 20/20 in Maths, 19/20 in Physics and Chemistry, and 18/20 in Biology.
Publications:
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Bland, L. M., Collen, B., Orme, C. D. L. and Bielby, J. Predicting the conservation status of Data Deficient species (in
prep).
Bland, L. M., Collen, B., Orme, C. D. L. and Bielby, J. (2012) Data uncertainty affects extinction risk selectivity in
freshwater invertebrates, Diversity & Distributions 18(12) 1211-1220
Bland, L. (2006) Mon âne , le comprendre, l'éduquer, jouer avec lui (My donkey: understanding him, educating him,
playing with him). Vigot Editions, 126 p. [A technical book comparing donkey and horse training].
Successful grants and awards:
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Won Best Talk prize at the Student Conference for Conservation Science Brisbane in 2013.
Obtained AUS$12,000 visiting fellowship from the Centre for Excellence in Environmental Decisions in 2012.
Obtained £500 travel grant from the Zoological Society of London in 2012.
Obtained £300 travel grant from the British Ecological Society in 2011.
Secured PhD funding from the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 2010.
Elected scholar of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford in 2008.
Obtained a scholarship to attend the Gatsby Plants Summer School in 2008.
Selected presentations:
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Student Conference for Conservation Science Brisbane 2013 (Best Talk), Predicting the conservation status of
Data Deficient species
ZSL Science for Communication Public Event (Talk), Mind the gap … in our knowledge: addressing information
bias in conservation science
European Congress for Conservation Biology 2012 (Talk), Predicting the conservation status of Data Deficient
mammals on the IUCN Red List
European Meeting of the Macroecological Society of Germany, Switzerland and Austria 2012 (Talk), Predicting
the conservation status of Data Deficient mammals on the IUCN Red List
Spatial Ecology and Conservation Conference 2011 (Poster), Data uncertainty and the selectivity of extinction
risk in freshwater invertebrates
Research skills:
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Excellent use of the R statistical language (GLM; spatial modelling; machine learning; phylogenetic analyses;
Bayesian statistics; decision theory; optimization). Attended Mick Crawley’s 3 week R course in 2011.
Very good use of ArcGIS and QGIS.
Good use of Marxan; MATLAB; Minitab; Access databases; SQL programming; RMS catastrophe modelling
software.
Proficient in LaTeK and HTML.
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Handling of wet collections at the Natural History Museum in London and Museum d’Histoire Naturelle de
Paris. Handling of dry collections at the Natural History Museum in Oxford.
Administrative responsibilities:
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Organiser of the 2012 Zoological Society of London Student Conference.
Reviewer for Biological Conservation and Conservation Biology.
Teaching experience:
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Extensive experience in teaching computational statistics and R at undergraduate and graduate levels,
Imperial College London (52 hours).
Demonstrated practicals and tutored (including marking) in Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour at
undergraduate level, Imperial College London (24 hours).
Tutored problem-based learning sessions at graduate level (9 hours), Zoological Society of London.
Supervised four Case studies for Msc students in Conservation Science, Imperial College London.
Science communication:
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University of Melbourne Botany Seminars 2013 (Talk), Monitoring global biodiversity under data uncertainty
Attended Introduction to science media course at the Science Media Centre London.
UCL/ZSL/Microsoft Research Statistics and Biodiversity Workshop 2012 (Talk and Project), Integrating
phylogenies into machine learning
UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment Seminars 2012 (Talk), Monitoring global biodiversity under data
uncertainty
Cambridge University Conservation Series 2012 (Talk), Monitoring global biodiversity under data uncertainty
ZSL Science for Conservation Seminars 2012 (Talk), Monitoring global biodiversity under data uncertainty
Imperial College Seminars 2012 (Talk), Monitoring global biodiversity under data uncertainty
ZSL Education Centre 2012 (Talk), Taking the pulse of the planet: an introduction to biodiversity indicators
ZSL Student Conference 2011 (Talk), Data uncertainty and the selectivity of extinction risk in freshwater
invertebrates
Work Experience:
July 2012 (4 weeks): Human Resources Business Analyst, Hiscox Insurance, London, UK
Managed the graduate recruitment campaign for a FTSE 250 company; creative director of the graduate recruitment
brochure; worked closely with employees across all levels of the organisation; negotiated extensively with external service
providers.
June/July 2012 (5 weeks): Catastrophe Risk Modelling Intern, Hiscox Insurance, London, UK
Compared the outputs of natural catastrophe models; quoted premiums for property portfolios exposed to catastrophe
and terrorism risk; negotiated with underwriters and brokers in the Lloyds market; lead the intern project and presented
it to the executive board.
June 2010 (4 weeks): Cryogeny Administrator, European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
Created a website for the department; updated records on cryogeny equipments; GPS mapping of cryogeny installations.
August 2009 (4 weeks): Intern, Species Survival Commission, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland
Wrote fundraising documents and newsletters; created a database on fundraising opportunities; participated in the design
of major publications; re-structured the Commission’s website; communicated effectively with other NGOs.
December 2008 – December 2009: Waitress, Barmaid, Receptionist. Champion Recruitment Agency, Oxford, UK
Language skills:
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Bilingual in English and French.
Very good use of Spanish. Obtained the Diploma de Español Como Lengua Extranjera, European Level B2 in
May 2007. Lived in Spain for a month in 2010.
Extra Curricular Activities:
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September 2011- September 2012: stunter, London Cheer Elite.
October 2007 – June 2010: Rowed in St Hilda’s women’s First VIII, coxed St Hilda’s men’s First VIII, coxed the
Oxford Blues Lightweights. Secretary of St Hilda’s Boatclub (2009).
June 2009: National Cheerleading Champion with the Oxford Sirens. IT Officer of the Oxford Sirens (2009).
October 2008 – October 2009: Environmental Officer of St Hilda’s College. Implemented a new recycling scheme.