Mr Jack R Merrifield BSc (Hons), PGCE, MSc, Grad CIEEM
Postgraduate research student
Mr Jack R Merrifield is Postgraduate research student within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.
I recently graduated with a Master of Science in Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology from the University of Exeter. During this degree I organised a Research Project with the Brown Hyena Research Project based in Namibia. This project involved exploring the factors underpinning cooperative hunting strategies and the allocation of roles within a hunting group by Black-backed jackals on the Diamond Coast in Namibia.
My undergraduate degree is in Genetics and my dissertation focused on harnessing the power of Transposable Elements to promote resistance to pathogenic bacteria in legume crops. Prior to my work with in Namibia I also conducted various field-based studies throughout National Parks and Reserves in Kenya including Hells Gate National Park, Lake Naivasha and Nakuru, Mount Kenya and Amboseli.
I am a qualified Interdisciplinary Science Teacher having achieved a Postgraduate certificate in Education from Cardiff University. I have taught a diverse range of learners and academic levels in private and state education, abroad and in the UK.
In combination my degrees and experiences have laid the foundations for my current PhD project under the supervision of Dr Patrick Osborne, Dr Patrick Doncaster and Professor P Newland.