Aonghais Cook

Senior Research Ecologist

Aonghais undertakes research examining the causes of changes in the abundance of waterbirds and seabirds, and potential impacts of man-made developments on their populations

Interests & Responsibilities

Aonghais works on a wide variety of short-term research projects, mainly focussing on the ecology of marine birds. Recent work has focussed on environmental impacts of renewable energy developments and developing monitoring strategies and indicators for seabirds and other marine species. Aonghais regularly provides scientific advice to government organisations, industry and others, and welcomes opportunities for collaboration.

Qualifications

BSc Ecology Stirling University, 2000-2004. MSc

Recent BTO Publications

View all BTO publications for this author

Other Publications

Cook, A., Rushton, S., Allan, J. & Ecology University of Wales, Bangor, 2004-2005. PhD Landscape Use By Gulls, Newcastle University, 2005-2008. Largey, N., Cook, A.S.C.P., Thaxter, C.B., McCluskie, A., Stokke, B.G., Wilson, B. & Masden, E.A. 2021. Methods to quantify avian airspace use in relation to wind energy development. Ibis View at journal website (DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12913)

Green, R.M.W., Burton, N.H.K. & Cook, A.S.C.P. 2020. Pilot Tracking Study of the Migratory Movements of Shelduck to Inform Understanding of Potential Interactions with Offshore Wind Farms in the North Sea. Research Report no. 725. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford ISBN: 978-1-912642-19-9 54pp

Green, R.M.W., Burton, N.H.K. & Cook, A.S.C.P. 2019. Review of the migratory movements of Shelduck to inform understanding of potential interactions with the offshore wind farms in the southern North Sea. Research Report no. 718. ISBN: 978-1-912642-10-6 48pp

Cook, A.S.C.P., Humphreys, E.M., Bennet, F., Masden, E.A. & Burton, N.H.K. 2018. Quantifying avian avoidance of offshore wind turbines: Current evidence and key knowledge gaps. Marine Environmental Research 140 : 278-288 View at journal website (DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.06.017) 11pp

O'Brien, S.H., Cook, A.S.C.P. & Robinson, R.A. 2017. Implicit assumptions underlying simple harvest models of marine bird populations can mislead environmental management decisions. Journal of Environmental Management 201 : 163-171 Link to publication View at journal website (DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.06.037) 9pp

Cook, A.S.C.P. & Robinson, R.A. 2017. Towards a framework for quantifying the population-level consequences of anthropogenic pressures on the environment: The case of seabirds and windfarms. Journal of Environmental Management 190 : 113-121 View at journal website (DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.12.025)

Baxter, A. 2008. An evaluation of techniques to control problem bird species on landfill sites. Environmental Management 41: 834-843.

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