Contact details
Social Media: | Twitter,
Biography
- Ecology of non-native species
- Effects of environmental change on insect populations
- Community interactions, particularly ladybirds and their natural enemies
- Role of species' attributes in determining distribution patterns
- Science communication and citizen science
My research focuses on the effects of environmental change on insect populations and communities. I am particularly interested in the dynamics of invasive non-native species and their effects on biodiversity. I am the chair of a COST Action ALIEN Challenge which involves 31 countries in ensuring a fair exchange of high quality and reliable data and information on invasive non-native species (GB Non-Native Species Information Portal). I lead a project to produce a comprehensive information portal on non-native species in Britain. Additionally I have the role of managing updates to the DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe) database.
I also lead a European study group within the International Organisation for Biological Control on the Risks and Benefits of Exotic Biological Control Agents which uses the harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) as a model species.
Citizen science provides opportunities for engaging people actively in science and over the last ten years I have led several major citizen science initiatives involving tens of thousands of people (including UK Ladybird Survey, BBC Breathing Places Parasite Survey and EDF Energy Big Bumblebee Discovery). I have been the volunteer scheme organiser for the UK Ladybird Survey for many years and am using the large-scale and long-term coccinellidae datasets (distribution and abundance) to understand and predict the effects of the arrival of the non-native harlequin ladybird on other ladybirds.
My research has been selected for the 2009 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, Moscow Science Festival in 2010 and BBC Gardeners' World Live in 2011, 2012 and 2013. I have a passion for science communication and citizen science. I was awarded the ZSL Silver Medal for contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology.
I am a visiting Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading.
Expertise:
Community ecology, invasion biology, entomology, biological recording, science communication
Career summary:
2012 - Ecologist (Band 4) and Group Leader, NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
2009 - 2012 Ecologist (Band 5) and Group Leader, NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
2007 - 2009 Ecologist (Band 6), NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
2007 - 2008 Reader in Ecology, Anglia Ruskin University
2006 - 2007 Director of Research Students, Anglia Ruskin University
2002 - 2006 Senior Lecturer, Anglia Ruskin University
1997 - 2002 Lecturer, Anglia Polytechnic University
1994 - 1997 PhD Student, Institute of Arable Crop Research – Rothamsted and University of Nottingham
Teaching:
September 2013 Course teacher for Tropical Biological Association, Segera, Kenya
June 2011 Course teacher for Tropical Biological Association, Kibale, Uganda
2013- Visiting lecturer on MSc Conservation (University of Oxford)
2009- Visiting lecturer on MSc Conservation and Wildlife Management (University of Reading)
2010- Visiting lecturer on MSc Environmental Science (University of Warwick)
2009 Visiting lecturer on Community Ecology course (University of Oxford)
1997-2008 Lecturer on various ecology, statistics and microbial courses (Anglia Ruskin University)
Postgraduate supervision:
Co-supervisor for PhD: eDNA and non-native species surveillance (Rosie Blackman, Hull University)
Co-supervisor for PhD: Functional responses of invasive alien species (Will Fincham, Leeds University)
Co-supervisor for PhD: Invasive Alien Species - impacts and pathways (Olaf Booy, Newcastle University)
Co-supervisor for PhD: Ladybirds and their parasites (Katie Murray, Stirling University)
2009-2013 Lead supervisor for PhD: Modelling the impacts of Harmonia axyridis on native insects (Richard Comont, Oxford University)
2009 - Co-supervisor for part-time PhD: Role of climate and habitat in the range expansion of Orthoptera (Björn Beckmann, York University)
2007 - 2011 Co-supervisor for PhD: Fenland restoration and invertebrate assemblages (Blaise Martay, Anglia Ruskin University)
2007 – 2011 Co-supervisor for PhD: Intraguild interactions between Harmonia axyridis and other aphidophages (Patricia Wells, Cambridge University)
2005 - 2010 Lead supervisor for PhD: Impacts of Harmonia axyridis on native ladybirds (Peter Brown, Anglia Ruskin University)
2004 - 2007 Lead supervisor for PhD: Overwintering interactions between Coccinella septempunctata and Beauveria bassiana (Anglia Ruskin University, Emma Ormond)
Books:
Roy, H.E., Preston, C.D. and Roy, D.B. (2015) Fifty Years of the Biological Records Centre. Special issue of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Booy, O., Wade, M. and Roy, H.E. (2015) Field Guide to Invasive Plants and Animals in Britain. Bloomsbury, London
Roy, H.E., Brown, P.M.J., Comont, R.F., Poland, R.L. and Sloggett, J.J. (2013) Ladybirds (Naturalists’ Handbook 10). Revised from Majerus and Kearns (1989) Pelagic Publishing, Exeter.
Collins, G. A. and Roy, H.E. (2012) Provisional atlas of the aculeate Hymenoptera of Britain and Ireland Part 7. 149 pp. Biological Records Centre, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK. ISBN 978-1-906698-29-4
Roy, H.E., De Clercq, P., Handley, L., Poland, R., Sloggett, J. and Wajnberg, E. (2012) Invasive alien arthropod predators and parasitoids: an ecological approach. Book series: Progress in Biological Control. Springer.
Roy, H.E., Brown, P.M.J., Frost, R. and Poland, R.L. (2011) Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of Britain and Ireland. 198pp. Biological Records Centre, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK. ISBN 978-1-906698-20-1
Roy, H.E., Vega, F., Chandler, D., Goettel, M.S., Pell, J.K. and Wajnberg, E. (2010) The ecology of fungal entomopathogens. 198pp. Springer. ISBN: 978-90-481-3965-1
Edwards, R. and Roy, H.E. (2009) Provisional atlas of the aculeate Hymenoptera of Britain and Ireland Part 7. 145 pp. Biological Records Centre, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK. ISBN 978-1-906698-14-0
Roy, H.E. and Wagnberg, E. (2008) From biological control to invasion: the ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, as a model species. 287. Springer. ISBN: 978-1-4020-6938-3
1994 – 1997 PhD Interactions between aphid predators and the entomopathogenic fungus Erynia neoaphidis - University of Nottingham
1993 – 1997 MSc Environmental Science: Measurement, Modelling and Analysis (Distinction) - University of Nottingham
1989 – 1992 BSc (Hons.) Biology (Upper Second Class Honours) – University of Southampton
1995-2005 Member of the Royal Entomological Society
2005 - Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society
1995 - Member of British Ecological Society
2015 - Member of the Entomological Club
Committee roles:
2015 - Member of the British Ecological Society Outreach Committee
2015 - Member of the Royal Entomological Society Outreach Committee
2013 - Convenor of the British Ecological Society Special Interest Group on Citizen Science
2013 - IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group
2007 - Council member for the National Forum for Biological Recording
2007- Convenor of the International Organisation for Biological Control Working Group on “Benefits and Risks of Exotic Biological Control Agents
Editorial positions:
Associate editor for BioControl
Associate editor for European Journal of Entomology
Editorial board member for Agricultural and Forest Entomology
Editorial team member for Citizen Science: Theory and Practice
