Career
- 2021 onwards: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Loughborough University, UK
- 2020 – 2021: Postdoctoral Fellow, Coventry University, UK
- 2019 – 2020: Environment Agency, UK
- 2015 – 2019: PhD, Coventry University, UK
- 2013 – 2015: Wildlife and Countryside Link, UK
Academic Prizes
- 2018: Coventry University Postgraduate Student of the Year
Morwenna is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant on a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project led by Dr Kate Mathers. The objective of the project is to identify, examine and quantify the primary abiotic and biotic controls influencing the ecosystem effects of instream sedimentation. This will be achieved using a combination of methodologies such as meta-analyses of international datasets, an extensive field sampling programme, and flume and mesocosm experimentations. This is closely related to her PhD, completed in 2019, which aimed to quantify the impacts of fine sediment on macroinvertebrates to help improve national biomonitoring practices.
Morwenna has cross-sector sector experience working on a range of environmental issues. Before completing her PhD, she worked for an environmental coalition NGO coordinating policy and campaigns activities on behalf of the organisations’ members. Morwenna has also worked for the Environment Agency as an Environmental Monitoring Officer and a Biodiversity Technical Specialist before beginning her Postdoctoral positions.
Morwenna’s research interests are inherently applied with a focus on the impact of anthropogenic stressors, ecological resilience, and the development of effective biomonitoring practices in aquatic ecology.
- Mckenzie, M., England. J., Foster, I., Wilkes M., 2021. Abiotic predictors of fine sediment accumulation in lowland rivers. International Journal of Sediment Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2021.06.003
- Mckenzie, M., Mathers, K.L., Wood, P.J., England, J., Foster, I., Lawler, D. and Wilkes, M., 2020. Potential physical effects of suspended fine sediment on lotic macroinvertebrates. Hydrobiologia, 847(3), pp.697-711.
- Wilkes, M.A., Gittins, J.R., Mathers, K.L., Mason, R., Casas‐Mulet, R., Vanzo, D., Mckenzie, M., Murray‐Bligh, J., England, J., Gurnell, A. and Jones, J.I., 2019. Physical and biological controls on fine sediment transport and storage in rivers. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 6(2), p.e1331.
- Wilkes, M. A., Mckenzie, M., & Webb, J. A. (2018). Fish passage design for sustainable hydropower in the temperate southern hemisphere: an evidence review. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 28(1), 117-135.
- Wilkes, M.A., Mckenzie, M., Murphy, J.F. and Chadd, R.P., 2017. Assessing the mechanistic basis for fine sediment biomonitoring: Inconsistencies among the literature, traits and indices. River research and applications, 33(10), 1618-1629.
- Harper, S. E., Foster, I. D., Lawler, D. M., Mathers, K. L., Mckenzie, M., & Petts, G. E. (2017). The complexities of measuring fine sediment accumulation within gravel‐bed rivers. River research and applications, 33(10), 1575-1584.