Senior Research Ecologist
Katharine works as a Senior Research Ecologist analysing quantitative data from a range of projects from Wales and the rest of the UK with a focus on wetland and marine species.
Interests and responsibilities
Having worked on a range of bird species as a Research Assistant before starting her PhD Katharine then have focused on wading bird populations and their responses to environmental change. Using the skills she has gained from these previous positions she is now based within the BTO Cymru office looking at Welsh bird populations and their conservation but she is also a part of the Wetland and Marine Research group in Thetford.
Qualifications
Recent BTO publications
- Ewing, H. Bowgen, K.M., Burton, N.H.K., Saunders, R., Perkins, A., Gajko, A., O’Donoghue, B., Kala, B., Kerperin, C., Kelley, C., Heward, C.J., Krupiński, D., Nijs, G., Weber, H., Düttmann, H., Kruckenberg, H., Deiting, J., Thiess, L., Szajda, M., Maluśkiewicz, M., Boschert, M., Obłoza, P., Tüllinghoff, R., Kelly, S.B.A., Grigg, T. & Franks, S.E. 2025. A review of Curlew headstarting projects in Europe. Wader Study 132: doi:10.18194/ws.00373
- Bowgen, K., Jarrett, D., Franks, S., Langlois Lopez, S., Clark, N., Clark, J. & Noyes, P. 2025. GPS-tracking breeding Curlew in the Yorkshire Dales: breeding success, home range size, and habitat use. BTO Research Report 786:
- Woodward, I.D., Franks, S.E., Bowgen, K., Davies, J.G., Green, R.M.W., Griffin, L.R., Mitchell, C., O’Hanlon, N., Pollock, C., Rees, E.C., Tremlett, C., Wright, L. & Cook, A.S.C.P. 2023. Strategic study of collision risk for birds on migration and further development of the stochastic collision risk modelling tool (Work Package 1: Strategic review of birds on migration in Scottish waters). JNCC Reports
- Bowgen, K.M., Austin, G.E., Wetherhill, A. & Woodward, I.D. 2023. Analysis of Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) data for The Humber Estuary SSSI, SAC, SPA and Ramsar site: fourth appraisal — sector-level trends to winter 2021/22. BTO Research Report 761:
- Kenobi, K., Read, W., Bowgen, K., Macgregor, C., Taylor, R., Cámaro García, W., Hodges, C., Dennis, P. & Holloway, P. 2023. Lasso Penalisation identifies consistent trends over time in landscape and climate factors influencing the wintering distribution of the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata). Ecological Informatics 77: doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102244
- Williams, J.M., Scott, S.E., Galbraith, C.A., Martay, B., Macphie, K.H., Hereward, H.F.R., Barton, M.G., Bowgen, K.M., Pearce-Higgins, J.W. & Robinson, R.A. 2023. Climate change and migratory species: a review of impacts, conservation actions, indicators and ecosystem services..
Other publications
Griesser, M., Mourocq, E., Barnaby, J., Bowgen, K. M., Eggers, S., Fletcher, K., Kozma, R., Kurz, F., Laurila, A., Nystrand, M., Sorato, E., Ekman, J. 2017. Experience buffers extrinsic mortality in a group-living bird species. Oikos (doi: 10.1111/oik.04098).
Kentie, R., Bowgen, K. M., Loghry, J. P. 2016. Wading through Literature. Wader Study 123 (3): 255-256.
Cartwright, S. J., Bowgen, K. M., Collop, C, Hyder, K., Nabe-Nielsen, J., Stafford, R, Stillman, R.A., Thorpe, R.B., Sibly, R.M. 2016. Communicating complex ecological models to nonscientist end users. Ecological Modelling 338: 51-59.
Bowgen, K. M., Stillman, R. A., Herbert, R. J. H. (2015) Predicting the effect of invertebrate regime shifts on wading birds: Insights from Poole Harbour, UK. Biological Conservation 186: 60-68.
Liu, Y., Webber, S., Bowgen, K., Schmaltz, L., Bradley, K., Halvarsson, P., Abdelgadir, M. & Griesser, M. 2013. Environmental factors influence both abundance and genetic diversity in a widespread bird species. Ecology and Evolution 3 (14), 4683-4695.
Griesser M., Ma Q., Webber S., Bowgen K., Sumpter DJT. 2011. Understanding animal groupsize distributions PLoS ONE 6 (8): e23438.