Head of Communications
Mike is responsible for how the BTO communicates with a range of audiences, presenting the BTO's science and monitoring work and promoting the role of its volunteer fieldworkers in the provision of data that support conservation science and inform policy. He oversees the BTO's Communications Team, covering the BTO's press, website and publishing operations.
Interests and responsibilities
In addition to work on birds and other taxa within the garden environment (Mike was BTO's Head of Garden Ecology for many years), his research interest extends to encompass work on Barn Owl survey and monitoring methods, methods for monitoring mammal species and bird migration. He is a BTO ringer, a Nest Recorder and an active fieldworker. His interests are reflected in both his peer-reviewed papers and more popular books, the latter including Flight Lines (2017) and the New Naturalist volumes on Owls (2014) and Garden Birds (2019).
Recent BTO publications
- Plummer, K.E., Dadam, D., Brereton, T., Dennis, E.B., Massimino, D., Risely, K., Siriwardena, G.M. & Toms, M.P. 2023. Trends in butterfly populations in UK gardens – new evidence from citizen science monitoring. Insect Conservation and Diversity 17: 345-357 doi:10.1111/icad.12645
Other publications
Toms, M.P. 1996. Project Barn Owl: the first full year of this three-year study. The Raptor 23 : 32-36 Edit link: edit