I am the leader of the Higher Predators and Conservation group within the BAS Core Science Ecosystems programme, an Honorary Professor at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. I also work closely with the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), including as convenor of the ACAP Populations and Conservation Status working group, and am a member of the Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). These international agreements develop strategies to improve knowledge of seabirds and other marine taxa, and their conservation.

My research concentrates on the population, physiological and evolutionary ecology of seabirds, particularly albatrosses and petrels, and is supported by NERC core funding to BAS and external grants. I have supervised 17 PhD students (seven current) and 12 MSc students (two current), and been external examiner for 19 PhD and two MRes theses (for universities in the UK, Ireland, France, Portugal, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia).

Research interests

Much of my research is collaborative, involving researchers world-wide, and focuses on topics that include conservation, fisheries interactions, impacts of introduced predators, seabird habitat preferences, at-sea activity patterns, foraging ecology, food web structure, population dynamics, stable isotopes, pollutants, population genetic structure, hormones and behaviour, comparative breeding biology and population trends.

My main field sites are Bird Island (South Georgia), Signy Island (South Orkneys) and Rothera (Adelaide Island). Bird Island holds an unusually high diversity and abundance of seabirds suitable for comparative studies. BAS has carried out long-term population studies since the early 1960s (wandering albatross), 1970s (grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses) and late 1990s/early 2000s (light-mantled albatross, giant petrels and skuas). There have also been numerous dedicated studies, integrating conventional observational techniques with the latest in tracking and logging technology, molecular and stable isotope analysis. An important focus of the current research addresses the declines in albatross and petrel populations as a result of incidental mortality in longline and trawl fisheries.

• Mackley, E., Manthorpe, S., & Phillips, R. (2025). Oblique photography surveys and counts of black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses in a subset of colonies across South Georgia during the 2023/2024 season (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/3f71209a-33d5-4d48-8899-d8a6d8d295e6

• Manthorpe, S., Mackley, E., & Phillips, R. (2025). Aerial surveys and annotated counts of black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses in their colonies across South Georgia during the 2023/2024 season (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/56be2d24-16cd-44ca-8f0c-5416dc38214d

• Clarke, A., Hughes, K., Phillips, R., Venables, H., Fisher, A., Beaumont, J., Bolton, E., Chapman, A., Clark, M., Collins, C., Duggan, S., Fenton, M., Geissler, P., Hall, R., Heiser, S., Hinde, S., King, M., Loines, J., Mann, P., … Waring, Z. (2024). Rothera wildlife sightings 1998 to 2021 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/4d3b48df-a85f-415f-bef8-9c213816b0d2

• Francis, J., Wakefield, E., Jamieson, S., McClymont, E., Southwell, C., Emmerson, L., Hodgson, D., Phillips, R., & Fretwell, P. (2024). Global breeding distribution of the snow petrel (1843-2020) (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/3155805f-6d8b-4a27-8dbf-91f2c10a4ba7

• Dunn, M., Adlard, S., Lynnes, A., Briggs, D., Fox, D., & Philips, R. (2021). Population size and breeding success of Southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus), at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, 1996 to 2019 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/78284adb-92be-4bea-ab10-080779ee58c3

• Moreno, R., McGill, R., & Phillips, R. (2016). Stable isotope data from chick feathers of 11 South Georgian bird species (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Polar Data Centre; British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council; Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.. https://doi.org/10.5285/01c17ccb-88e6-4dfa-9613-06d53e3d2554

1. South Georgia seabirds from space

   This project tests whether satellite imagery can be used to monitor breeding seabirds across the island group.

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2. Conservation and leadership in Southern Ocean ecosystems

   CONSEC explores how climate change and human activity are transforming the Southern Ocean, guiding global science and conservation.

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3. Albatrosses from Space

   Albatrosses face multiple threats to their long-term survival. Using very high-resolution satellites, we are able to estimate the number of breeding pairs in remote locations.

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4. Spatial Segregation of Seabirds at South Georgia

   Tracking and monitoring of seabirds e.g. wandering albatrosses and white-chinned petrels at South Georgia to support conservation.

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5. Black-browed Albatross Juvenile Tracking

   The main aims of this study are to map the distribution of juvenile black-browed albatrosses and to assess the survival rate of juveniles in the critical months after they fledge.

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6. Bycatch risk of wandering albatrosses from radar detection

   The overall objective of this project is to link habitat preference, at-sea activity patterns and detections from novel bird-borne radars to quantify interactions of tracked wandering albatrosses with legal and IUU fishing vessels.

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7. Grey-headed Albatross Juvenile Tracking

   This project maps the movements and foraging areas of juvenile albatross in order to determine the overlap with fisheries, and assesses the survival rate of juveniles in the initial weeks and months after they fledge.

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8. Skua monitoring at Rothera

   Long-term monitoring helps scientists understand how wildlife responds to environmental changes. Skuas are top predators, so their breeding success reflect wider ecosystem conditions.

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9. Higher Predators – Long-Term Science

   Higher Predators carries out long-term science to measure changes in Antarctic ecosystems. The aim is to understand the processes that drive these changes.

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10. Impact of Plastic in the Polar Regions

    This project investigated plastic pollution across Arctic and Antarctic environments. Scientists collected water, ice, and sediment samples to quantify macro and microplastic pollution, track its sources, and assess its impact on polar wildlife.

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11. National Capability for Global Challenges

    Polar Expertise – Supporting Development

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12. Wildlife from Space

    Many populations of wildlife are remote, inaccessible or difficult to monitor. The advent of sub-metre, Very-High-Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery has enabled us study these animals in a much more efficient way.

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13. White-chinned Petrel Tracking

    13 satellite tags were attached to white-chinned petrel chicks prior to their departure from Bird Island. The birds were tracked in near real-time using the Argos system.

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16. Long term monitoring of plastics

    This project monitors plastics and debris in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic ecosystems, tracking impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, and coastal environments.

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1. Antarctica’s sea ice could impact seabirds’ food supply

   Antarctica’s rapidly receding sea ice could have a negative impact on the food supply of seabirds that breed hundreds of miles away from the continent.

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2. BAS shortlisted for NERC’s 2023 Impact Awards

   The shortlist has been announced for The Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Impact Awards 2023. Four BAS projects have made the shortlist and commended list, ranging from biodiversity and ecology to space weather.

   Read more of: BAS shortlisted for NERC’s 2023 Impact Awards

   

3. Threatened sea birds visit plastic pollution hot spots

   Plastic pollution accumulating in international waters poses a serious risk to marine life, including a number of threatened bird species. A huge team of scientists studied the global movements of […]

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4. Bird diet sampling helps uncover the lives of living fossils

   Researchers have discovered a flesh-eating fish is in major decline – by looking at the stomach content of some of the world’s largest bird, albatrosses. The Patagonian Lamprey, Geotria macrostoma, […]

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5. Scientists track the epic flight of fledged albatross

   Scientists are tracking a group of young black-browed albatross, who have begun their first epic journeys across the Southern Ocean. In April 2023, 26 young black-browed albatross on Bird Island […]

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6. BAS staff awarded the Polar Medal

   Congratulations to BAS staff who have been awarded a Polar Medal in the 2023 New Year’s Honours List for their scientific work or their technical support for science, in order […]

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7. Research shows ‘danger zones’ for wandering albatrosses

   Over half of wandering albatrosses breeding on Bird Island, in the sub-Antarctic, encounter fishing vessels when feeding, putting them at risk of being accidentally caught or killed in fishing gear, […]

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8. Study sheds light on penguin evolution

   Scientists have reconstructed more than 60 million years of evolutionary history to reveal how penguins became oceanic birds. An international team of 40 researchers analysed the genomes – the complete […]

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9. Seabirds spend nearly 40% of their time in high seas

   Albatrosses and large petrels spend 39% of their time in places where no single country has jurisdiction. The results come from a new global analysis of the year-round movements of […]

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10. Plastic Pollution reaching Antarctica

    Food wrapping, fishing gear and plastic waste continue to reach the Antarctic. Two new studies into how plastic debris is reaching sub-Antarctic islands are published in the journal Environment International. […]

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11. Antarctica. BBC blockbuster Seven Worlds, One Planet

    Antarctica – BBC NHU blockbuster

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12. Fishing hotspots show where sub-Antarctic seabirds at risk

    A new study highlights that sub-Antarctic seabirds are most at risk from unsustainable fishing during the southern hemisphere winter and in the south Atlantic and Southwest Indian Oceans. The link […]

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13. New funding uses seabirds as sentinels of South Atlantic

    British Antarctic Survey scientist Professor Richard Phillips has been awarded funding to use newly developed radar-detecting tags to track the interactions between wandering albatrosses and fishing vessels in the South […]

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14. Seabird populations on Antarctic Peninsula unexpected

    Results of a new study on Antarctic seabirds shows a larger percentage of their populations inhabit important nesting sites around Ryder Bay, close to British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Station than […]

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15. In old age, efficiency is key to successful parenting

    Old albatrosses that are more efficient at finding food during migration are more likely to successfully raise young, new research shows. A study led by the British Antarctic Survey, in […]

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16. Warming oceans could put seabirds out of sync with prey

    Seabirds may struggle to find food for their chicks as they are unable to shift their breeding seasons as the climate warms, a new study suggests. Rising sea temperatures in […]

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17. Albatrosses in decline from fishing and environmental change

    The populations of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses have halved over the last 35 years on sub-antarctic Bird Island according to a new study published today (20 November) in the […]

    Read more of: Albatrosses in decline from fishing and environmental change

    

18. BBC Blockbuster Blue Planet II returns

    Blue Planet II – the nature documentary that explores the deepest and darkest realms of the world’s oceans – is back on the BBC some 16 years after it was […]

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19. Review of threats to seabirds

    A review of breeding distributions, population trends, threats and key priorities for conservation actions on land and at sea for the 29 species covered by the Agreement on the Conservation […]

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20. PRESS RELEASE: Antarctic seabird in decline

    New research shows decline in population and breeding success of Antarctic seabird A fifty year study of the charismatic seabird, the southern giant petrel, on the Antarctic island of Signy […]

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21. NEWS STORY: Assessing seabird communities

    Antarctic seabird community structure remains unaffected by changes in food availability A new study of sub-Antarctic seabirds shows that their community structure (how they co-exist and share resources) is unaffected […]

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22. NEWS STORY: Bird tracking aids seabird research

    Bird tracking technology reveals future climate may affect seabird feeding behaviour A two year study of shags on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve in Scotland reveals that when […]

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23. NEWS STORY: New study uncovers how petrels co-exist

    New study uncovers how petrels in sub-Antarctic co-exist during the winter For the first time, scientists understand more clearly how birds living on the remote sub-Antarctic island of Bird Island […]

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24. Bonner Laboratory and dive facility

    Supporting near-shore marine biology

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25. NEWS STORY: Age does not wither

    Does age matter? Maybe not if you’re a wandering albatross A new study of the wandering albatrosses breeding on the sub-antarctic island of Bird Island (off South Georgia) reveals that […]

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26. NEWS STORY: Satellites spot seabird poo!

    Seabird poo has unique spectral signature visible from satellite images Scientists have discovered that penguin and seabird poo (guano) from colonies around the Antarctic Peninsula has a unique spectral signature […]

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27. NEWS STORY: Age no barrier for albatrosses

    Saving the best for last – wandering albatrosses” last push for successful parenting Romanticised in poetry, the wandering albatross is famed for its enormous wing-span and long life. The bird […]

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28. Kittiwakes’ trans-Atlantic winter odyssey linked to breeding success

    One of Britain’s best known seabirds winters on opposite sides of the Atlantic depending on whether its breeding attempt has been successful, according to new research published today in the […]

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29. PRESS RELEASE: Terns clock up the miles

    Arctic terns confirmed to have the longest animal migration in the world New information on bird migration is revealed by an international team of scientists who have confirmed that the […]

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30. PRESS RELEASE: Albatrosses feed with whales

    Albatross camera reveals fascinating feeding interaction with killer whale Scientists from British Antarctic Survey, National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, Japan, have recorded the first observations […]

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• Vice-convenor, Population and Conservation Status working group of ACAP
• Member, Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research (SCAR) Group of Experts on Bird and Marine Mammals
• Associate Editor, The Ibis
• Associate Editor, Emu- Austral Ornithology