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Professor Charles Sheppard

Job Title
Professor
Department
Life Sciences
Research Interests

My research is on community ecology, particularly the effects of natural and anthropogenic stresses on ecosystems, especially (since 1998) on ecosystem responses to climate change.

  • Biogeography and biodiversity of Indo Pacific coral reefs, including research on climate change effects on tropical systems which directly support people.
  • Coastal Management and conservation projects in middle East and Chagos Archipelago, and Caribbean.
  • Marine habitat research in numerous tropical countries, particularly inter-habitat interactions including human interactions with the marine system. GIS based coastal zone management development for lesser developed countries.
  • Research on the recent episodes of massive reef mortality in the Indian Ocean.
  • Marine biodiversity research, using remote sensing, in tropical marine ecosystems.
  • Investigation of community changes along pollution and sedimentation gradients, including the development and use of new and powerful non-parametric methods of analysis.
  • Research linking climate data to marine environmental changes.

See Marine and Coastal Ecosytems
Current PhD student: Syazara Ebil

Biography

I hold a half-time position of Professor in the School of Life Sciences. The remainder of my time I work for a range of UN , Governmental and aid agencies in tropical marine and coastal development issues.

I advise several governments on marine and coastal management and science, including the UK Government on its tropical Overseas Territories.

I have organised and led the scientific input to the 2010 creation of the world's largest fully protected marine researce, in the Chagos archipelago, Indian Ocean, where a lot of my research has been focussed.

The other main geographical area of research is the Arabian region.

PhD University of Durham 1976.

Fellow, Linnean Society
Conservation Fellow, Zoological Society London
Reviewing member of the IPCC

Editor of the Elsevier journal:Marine Pollution Bulletin

Author and/or editor 10 books at various levels, from lay, student text and academic.

  • Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), 2021. Coral reefs : a natural history. Princeton New Jersey, Princeton University Press
  • Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), Davy, Simon K., Pilling, Graham M., Graham, Nicholas A. J., 2017. The Biology of Coral Reefs : Second Edition.
  • Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), 2014. Coral reefs : a very short introduction.
  • Carr, Peter, Hillman, Jesse C., Seaward, Mark R. D., Vogt, Scott, Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), 2013. Coral Islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago). In Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.) (ed.), Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, Springer Netherlands, pp. 271-282
  • Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), Bowen, Brian W., Chen, Allen C., Craig, Matthew T., Eble, Jeff, Fitzsimmons, Nancy, Gan, Chai-hsia, Gaither, Michelle R., Gollock, Matthew, Keshavmurthy, Shashank, Koldewey, Heather, Mortimer, Jeanne A., Obura, David, Pfeiffer, Miriam, Rogers, Alex D., Sheppard, Anne L. S., Vogler, Catherine, Wörheide, Gert, Yang, Ming-Che, Yesson, Chris, 2013. British Indian ocean territory (the Chagos archipelago) : setting, connections and the marine protected area. In Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.) (ed.), Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, Springer Netherlands, pp. 223-240
  • Readman, James W., DeLuna, Francis, Ebinghaus, Ralf, Guzman, AntenorNestor, Price, Andrew R. G., Readman, Emily E., Sheppard, Anne L. S., Sleight, Victoria A., Sturm, Renate, Thompson, Richard C., Tonkin, Andrew, Wolschke, Hendrik, Wright, Robyn J., Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), 2013. Contaminants, pollution and potential anthropogenic impacts in chagos/BIOT. In Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.) (ed.), Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, Springer Netherlands, pp. 283-298
  • Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), Ateweberhan, Mebs, Chen, Allen C., Harris, Alasdair, Jones, Rachel, Keshavmurthy, Shashank, Lundin, Carl, Obura, David, Purkis, Sam, Raines , Peter, Riegl, Bernhard, Schleyer, Michael H., Sheppard, Anne L. S., Tamelander , Jerker, Turner, John R., Visram, Shakil, Yang, Sung-Yin, 2013. Coral reefs of the Chagos archipelago, Indian Ocean. In Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.) (ed.), Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, Springer Netherlands, pp. 241-252
  • Riegl, Bernhard M., Benzoni, Francesca, Samimi-Namin, Kaveh, Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), 2012. The Hermatypic Scleractinian (hard) coral fauna of the gulf. In Riegl, Bernhard M.; Purkis, Sam J. (eds.), Coral Reefs of the Gulf, Springer Netherlands, pp. 187-224
  • Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), Davy, Simon K., Pilling, Graham M., 2009. The Biology of Coral Reefs. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Title Funder Award start Award end
Bangor led: Strengthening the worlds largest Marine Protected Area: Chagos Archipelago Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 01 Apr 2012 31 Mar 2015
Environmental monitoring for improved conservation management Overseas Territories Environment Programme 01 Jul 2009 30 Apr 2010
Identification guide to the major caribbean reef species Overseas Territories Environment Programme 01 Apr 2007 31 Dec 2007
Estimate of severity of big ship anchoring in Diego Garcia lagoon (BIO404) Overseas Territories Environment Programme 01 Feb 2007 31 Mar 2007
Improved conservation management of BIOT using revised zone boundaries (BIO403) Overseas Territories Environment Programme 01 Feb 2007 31 Mar 2007
Assessment and Improved Management of New and Existing Marine Protected Areas in the British Virgin Islands Foreign and Commonwealth Office 01 Aug 2004 31 Jul 2006
Contribution towards Chagos Scientific and Environmental Survey Chagos Conservation Trust 01 Aug 2004 31 Jul 2006
Environmental Monitoring for Improved Conservation Management - Chagos Foreign and Commonwealth Office 01 Apr 2004 31 Mar 2006
Assessment of Climate Change in Seychelles Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Seychelles 01 Aug 2004 01 Dec 2004

Research Themes:

Environmental Bioscience