
Dr Philip Wheeler
Senior Lecturer In Ecology
School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences
Biography
Professional biography
I am an ecologist and conservation biologist in the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences interested in a wide range of conservation and environmental management questions. In the past I have been interested in tackling real-world conservation problems, particularly by investigating landscape-scale processes, but I am now increasingly interested in urban environments, and particularly urban trees. My areas of teaching and research are quite varied, ranging from species ecology to wildlife monitoring and conservation, quantitative methods and spatial modelling.
I joined the Open University in 2015. Prior to coming to the OU I was at the University of Hull's Centre for Environmental and Marine Sciences.
Research interests
Urban trees and Citizen Science.
I lead the OU's citizen science project Treezilla: the Monster Map of Trees aiming to engage members of the public, local authorities and voluntary organisations in mapping and measuring urban trees in the UK. This work is a collaboration with Forest Research's Urban Forest Research Group and Treeconomics and has been supported by NERC and InnovateUK.
Alongside Treezilla, I am leading a variety of studies on urban trees and urban ecology more widely, carried out mainly by a small group of excellent and dedicated research students, and in collaboration with other colleagues in the STEM faculty and others at the OU.
Previous research I have been involved in, but less so these days is:
Ecology of Brown Hares and Rabbits in agroecosystems.
Work investigating the distribution and ecology of these species which are of conservation interest as well as agricultural pests. Thus work is in collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, York.
Ecology and conservation of large tropical forest mammals.
Work on species including the highly endangered anoa, a dwarf buffalo endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, with perhaps only 3000 individuals in the wild, and Baird's Tapir in Honduras. This work informs activities of the IUCN Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group and Tapir Specialist Group.
I am fortunate to have a brilliant group of research students working with me on projects including citizen science and urban trees, urban woodland biodiversity and other areas of biodiversity and conservation. I am always looking to take on suitably qualified research students in any of the above areas. If you are interested, contact me to discuss applications and possibilities for funding.
Current PhD Students:
Shannon Cameron: Assessing novel technologies for coral reef surveys
Ramla Khan: Effects of heat on urban trees
Willow Neal: Butterflies in urban woodlands
Holly Woo: Urbanisation effects on ancient woodland
Teaching interests
I teach a wide range of subjects across ecology and environmental science. I am the module team chair for the OU's new core Environmental Science module (S226) and input into a range of other modules across the environmental science curriculum.
Impact and engagement
My research work is very applied and several previous and current projects have inputted into active wildlife monitoring and conservation, notably guidelines on surveying brown and mountain hares for ecological impact assessments and information for conservation action plans for tropical forest large mammals.
My current work on engaging people in monitoring and mapping urban trees and their ecosystem services works closely with large numbers of individual volunteers, groups and the public and private sectors to improve the understanding of the value of urban trees and promote their conservation.
I have worked as academic consultant on two OU-BBC landmark natural history series: A Perfect Planet (2021) and Wild Isles (2023).
International links
I have worked extensively with partners and colleagues across the globe, primarily in south east Asia and Indonesia in particular.
Projects
Publications
Journal Article
Influence of canopy structural complexity on urban woodland butterfly species richness (2024)
Teaching and learning in ecology: a horizon scan of emerging challenges and solutions (2021)
Detecting the elusive cost of parasites on fig seed production (2018)
Dietary niche partitioning between sympatric brown hares and rabbits (2017)
Can aggregate quarry silt lagoons provide resources for wading birds? (2017)
Use of tri-axial accelerometers to assess terrestrial mammal behaviour in the wild (2016)
Opposing effects of agricultural intensification on two ecologically similar species (2014)
Other
Presentation / Conference
Maximising the benefit of urban woodlands for butterflies (2023)
Urban Woodland Butterfly Habitat Suitability (2022)
Urban Ancient Woodland in Britain’s Modern Landscape (2021)
Broadcasting from the field: enabling student-led investigations by distance (2020)
Widening access to fieldwork for large numbers of students with interactive livecasts (2018)
Live field broadcasts: Moving from optional additions to required assessment (2018)
Fieldscapes – Creating and Evaluating a 3D Virtual Field Trip System (2017)
Using a citizen science tool to model the health benefits of roadside trees (2017)
Enhancing ecological fieldwork with Virtual Reality (2016)
Widening access to fieldwork with interactive livecasts (2016)