Skip to content

Dr Julia Webb

Senior Lecturer in Biology

As a practical ecologist I'm passionate about teaching and nurturing field and laboratory skills. I enjoy finding ways to incorporate practical work into almost all of my teaching sessions.

Biography

I am a strong believer that learning should be imbedded by doing. I take every opportunity to facilitate student learning by incorporating workshops, applied case studies and practical work in my teaching. I teach across modules in Biology, Zoology, Ecology and Environmental Science, with a specific focus on ecological reconstructions.

My research is focused around the applications of palynology. I’ve studied the use of pollen in forensic investigations, for establishing baselines in conservation and in testing modern ecological theory. I encourage students to get involved in research projects, and have enabled both undergraduate and postgraduate students to become co-authors on academic publications.

I am the course leader for BSc Animal Biology, BSc Zoology and BSc Biology. I have been involved in validation events for new courses internally and externally and am an experienced external examiner.

Qualifications

  • PhD: “Advancing the utility of palynology: Scope, breadth and novelty of approaches”, University of Gloucestershire
  • FHEA, Fellow, Higher Education Academy, 2005
  • PGCert: Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, University of Gloucestershire, 2005
  • MSc: Quaternary Science, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2002
  • BSc (Hons): Physical Geography and Geology, University of Gloucestershire, 2005.

Awards

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • University of Gloucestershire Excellence Award: Inspirational Colleague
  • University Teaching Fellowship
  • University of Gloucestershire Excellence Award: Research & Scholarship Award
  • University of Gloucestershire Excellence Award: Building strong relationships with selected partners for mutual benefit.

Membership of professional bodies

  • British Ecological Society
  • Quaternary Research Association
  • Higher Education Academy.

Teaching & Research

Teaching

  • NS4201 Diversity and Evolution
  • NS4204 Fundamentals of Ecology
  • NS4209 Methods in Biology
  • NS5212/3/4 Contemporary Issues
  • NS5208 Residential Fieldwork – Switzerland
  • NS6204 Pollution in Ecological Systems
  • NS6206 Palaeoecology
  • NS6222/3/4 Dissertations.

Research

Julia Webb is a palynologist (palynology is the study of pollen and spores) and her research spans many areas within the field. Alongside the traditional use of palynology to reconstruct environments, Julia has been involved in more modern applications, such as in forensic cases and in answering modern ecological questions. She is a firm believer that pollen has many uses beyond fertilisation of flowering plants.

Current research students

Taylor Kingham – MSc by Research “The extent and magnitude of the 8.2ka climate event in South Wales”

Completed PhD students

Julia McCarroll – Application of palaeoecological techniques to inform blanket mire conservation in Yorkshire, UK

Adewunmi Bodede – an assessment of the impact of pesticide use by urban and peri-urban cultivators in Oyo state, south-western Nigeria

Rob Jarman – Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in Britain: a multi-proxy approach to determine its origins and cultural significance.

Publications

More publications from Dr Julia Webb can be found in the Research Repository.

External responsibilities

Professional positions

  • Member of Academic Board (Glos)
  • Executive Committee member: Gloucestershire Naturalists.

External examining

  • University of Plymouth: Environment and Resource Management
  • Hartpury University: Animal and Agriculture.