Cindy Cosset

Research

My research aims to understand the impacts of tropical selective logging on ecological mechanisms that underpin biodiversity change.

While standard one-shot censuses of the impacts of selective logging suggest that these logged-over forests harbour high biodiversity value, we do not know how logging affects ecological mechanisms, such as movement, survival and community dynamics, that underlie biodiversity changes and thus are unable to model their long-term value for conservation.

Mark-recapture is a commonly used tool for detecting the impacts of disturbance on species. I use mark-recapture to understand the impacts of selective logging on biodiversity, which is the most widespread land-use change in the tropics.

To fill this knowledge gap, I apply advanced spatial mark-recapture modelling and then develop two novel approaches in a Bayesian framework:

1. Develop hierarchical Bayesian models, adapting recent works from joint-species occupancy modelling, to assess the local movement patterns of avian species.

2. Develop a multi-species hierarchical Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model in a Bayesian framework to compare habitat-specific survival at the community and species levels.

In doing so, it will provide novel insights into a critical conservation question, whilst introducing and developing new analytical tools and approaches for application to other mark-recapture data.

View my CV (PDF, 310KB)

About me

Besides science, I love volunteering with nature projects as it gives me a chance to be outdoors plus it is very rewarding. Horse riding has been one of my long standing passions and I love dance as it allows me to express my artistic side. I also love travelling, as being the spawn of a Chinese mother and French/Lebanese father whilst growing up in Malaysia, I’ve always been exposed to different cultures and am constantly seeking to experience more.