The first grant is the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award from the RGS of £500, and the second is a postgraduate research grant from the British Society for Geomorphology for £490. Harry will visit Dr Lindsey Albertson for six weeks to undertake experiments in the USA that will be a replica of those that are running in the Loughborough University laboratories investigating crayfish burrowing, but using crayfish from their native North American range.
The Montana experiments seek to investigate the concept of ‘rapid evolution’, where species change their behaviour upon becoming invasive to a new environment. Exploring whether the burrowing behaviour of signal crayfish is expressed under experimental conditions in their native range will also allow for the modelling of fine sediment delivery to North American streams, to understand which are at risk should crayfish further invade rivers in the USA.