I am an Ecosystem Scientist at the British Antarctic Survey. Trained as an ecologist, I have a BSc (First Class Hons) in Applied Zoology, PhD in Population Ecology (University of Liverpool), and over twenty years’ experience in scientific research, international programme management, and the provision of technical advice for policy. Prior to working at BAS, I was the Executive Officer of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Species Survival Commission’s Shark Specialist Group, and before that I worked in shark conservation and management in Southeast Asia.

Research interests

My research is cross-disciplinary, linking ecology, fisheries and climate science, to address the challenges in understanding changing ecosystems. I have a particular interest in improving how science informs policy, and most recently my work has been focused on the integration of climate change considerations into marine conservation and management.

Collaborations

Roles include:

• Scientific Advisor on the UK delegation to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), participating in Working Groups and Scientific Committee, leading on climate change issues.
• General Capacity Building Fund Committee, Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
• Co-Chief Officer, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Scientific Research Programme ‘Near-term Variability and Prediction of the Antarctic Climate System’ (AntClimNow).
• SCAR Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System (SCATS).
• Executive Committee, SCAR Action Group on Fish (SCARFISH).
• Science-policy lead, Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean Programme (ICED), a regional programme of IMBeR (Integrated Marine Biosphere Research).
• Committee member, British Antarctic Survey and Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) ‘Science-Policy Challenges in Polar Conservation and Management’.
• Cambridge NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships Training Committee, University of Cambridge.
• Senior Associate, Nature-based Solutions Initiative, University of Oxford.
• Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) network, University of Cambridge.

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

Other publications:

Polar:

Louise Sime, Rachel Cavanagh, Jane Francis, Tim Naish, Oliver Marsh, Geraint Tarling, C. Rosie Williams. Antarctic Tipping Points. https://www.bas.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Tipping-points-report_Jun23.pdf

Cavanagh Rachel, Waluda Claire (eds.). (2018) Plastics in the ocean: challenges and solutions. Cambridge, British Antarctic Survey. https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/a-cross-sectoral-approach-to-tackle-ocean-plastic-pollution-meeting-report/

Johnston NM, Murphy EJ and Cavanagh RD. 2016. Unlocking the past to understand the future. Antarctic Science. 28 (1). P 1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102015000619

Hill S, Cavanagh RD, Knowland CA, Grant SM and Downie R. 2014. Bridging the krill divide: understanding cross-sector objectives for krill fishing and conservation. Report of an ICED-BAS-WWF Workshop. Woking, UK, June 2014. Published by British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, 37pp.  http://www.iced.ac.uk/documents/Krill%20divide%20report_FINAL.pdf

Rintoul, S. R. et al (including Cavanagh RD) (2012): The Southern Ocean observing system: Initial science and implementation strategy , SCAR and SCOR, 74 p., ISBN: 978-0-948277-27-6 .

Murphy E.J., Cavanagh R.D., Johnston N.M. and Hofmann E.E. (Eds). 2010. Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics (ICED): Report of the Southern Ocean Food Web Modelling Workshop, 16-18 April 2008, Virginia, USA

Murphy E.J., Cavanagh R.D., Johnston N.M., Reid K., Hofmann E.E. 2008. Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED). Science Plan and Implementation Strategy. GLOBEC Report No. 26 and IMBER Report No. 2.

Murphy E.J., Johnston N.M. and Cavanagh R.D. (Eds). 2006. Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics (ICED) in the Southern Ocean: Report of the first ICED Science Planning Workshop, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK, 24–26 May 2005. 58pp.

IUCN Shark Specialist Group:

Haque AB, Oyanedel R, Cavanagh RD. 2023. Mitigating elasmobranch fin trade: A market analysis for made-to-measure interventions, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 862, 2023,
160716, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160716

Haque, AB, Cavanagh RD, Spaet JLY. 2022. Fishers’ tales—Impact of artisanal fisheries on threatened sharks and rays in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. Conservation Science and Practice, 4. 20 pp. 10.1111/csp2.12704

Haque AB, Cavanagh RD, Seddon N. 2021. Evaluating artisanal fishing of globally threatened sharks and rays in the Bay of Bengal,
Bangladesh. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0256146. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256146

Haque AB, White WT, Cavanagh RD, Biswas AR and Hossain N. 2021. New records of elasmobranchs in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: further taxonomic research is essential. Zootaxa, 5027(2), 211–230. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5027.2.4

Dulvy NK, Fowler SL, Musick JA, Cavanagh RD et al. 2014 Extinction risk and conservation of the world’s sharks and rays. eLife, 3, e00590. 34, pp. 10.7554/eLife.00590

Hoffmann, M. et al (including Cavanagh, RD). The impact of conservation on the status of the world’s vertebrates. Science 330, 1503–1509 (2010.

Compagno, L.J.V., White, W.T. & Cavanagh, R.D. 2010. Glyphis fowlerae sp. nov., a new species of river shark (Carcharhiniformes; Carcharhinidae) from northeastern Borneo, pp. 29–44. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White, J.J. Pogonoski (eds) Descriptions of New Sharks and Rays from Borneo. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper 032, 165 pp.

Cavanagh, R.D. and Gibson, C. 2007. Overview of the Conservation Status of Mediterranean Chondrichthyans. IUCN Shark Specialist Group, UK and IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, Malaga, Spain.

Cavanagh, R.D., Fowler, S.L. and Camhi, M. 2007. Pelagic sharks and the FAO International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. Submitted. In: Camhi, M. and Pikitch, E.K. (Eds). Sharks of the Open Ocean. Blackwell Scientific Publishers.

White, W.T. and Cavanagh, R.D. 2007. Whale shark landings in Indonesian artisanal shark and ray fisheries. Fisheries Research 84: 128–131.

Cavanagh, R.D. and Kyne, P.M. 2006. The conservation status of deepsea chondrichthyan fishes. In: Proceedings of the Conservation and Management of Deepsea Chondrichthyans. UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, Rome, Italy, pp366-380.

Fowler, S.L., Cavanagh, R.D., Camhi, M., Burgess, G.H., Cailliet, G.M., Fordham, S.V., Simpfendorfer, C.A. and Musick, J.A. (Eds). 2005. Sharks, rays and chimaeras: the status of the chondrichthyan fishes. Status survey. IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 461pp.

Cavanagh, R. 2004. Shark and ray fisheries. In: Managing marine protected areas: a toolkit for the Western Indian Ocean. IUCN Eastern African Regional Programme, Nairobi, Kenya, xii + 172pp.

Cavanagh, R.D., Kyne, P.M., Fowler, S.L., Musick, J.A., and Bennett, M.B. (Eds). 2003. Conservation Status of Australian Chondrichthyans: Report of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Australia and Oceania Regional Red List Workshop. University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. 170 pp.

PhD publications:

Telfer, S., Bennett, M., Bown, K., Carslake, D., Cavanagh, R., Hazel, S., Jones, T. & Begon, M. 2005. Infection with cowpox virus decreases female maturation rates in wild populations of woodland rodents.  Oikos 109: 317-322.

Cavanagh, R.D., Lambin, X., Ergon, T., Bennett, M., Graham, I.M., van Soolingen, D. & Begon, M. 2004. Disease dynamics in cyclic populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis): cowpox virus and vole tuberculosis (Mycobacterium microti). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 271: 859-867.

Ergon, T. Speakman, J.R., Scantlebury, M. Cavanagh, R. and Lambin, X. 2004. Optimal Body Size and Energy Expenditure during Winter: Why Are Voles Smaller in Declining Populations? The American Naturalist 163(3): 442-457.

Begon, M., Hazel, S.M., Telfer. S., Bown, K., Carslake, D., Cavanagh, R., Chantrey, J., Jones, T. & Bennett, M. 2003. Rodents, cowpox virus and islands: densities, numbers and thresholds. Journal of Animal Ecology 72: 343-355.

Speakman, J.R., Ergon, T., Cavanagh, R., Reid, K., Scantlebury, D.M., and Lambin, X. 2003. Resting and daily energy expenditures of free-living field voles are positively correlated but reflect extrinsic rather than intrinsic effects. Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Science 100(24): 14057–14062.

Cavanagh, R., Begon, M., Bennett, M., Ergon, T., Graham, I.M., de Haas, P.E.W., Hart, C.A., Koedam, M., Kremer, K., Lambin, X., Roholl, P. & van Soolingen, D. 2002. Mycobacterium microti  infection (vole tuberculosis) in wild rodent populations: a potential reservoir for pulmonary tuberculosis in humans. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 40: 3281-3285.

Telfer, S., Bennett, M., Bown, K.J., Cavanagh, R., Crespin, L., Hazel, S., Jones, T. & Begon, M. 2002. The effects of cowpox virus on survival in natural rodent populations: increases and decreases. Journal of Animal Ecology 71: 558-568.

Cavanagh, R.D. 2001. Interactions between population dynamics and infectious diseases of wild rodents. PhD Thesis. University of Liverpool, UK.

Hazel, S.M., Baxby, D., Bennett, M., Bown, K., Chantrey, J., Cavanagh, R., Jones, T.R. & Begon, M. 2000. A longitudinal study of an endemic disease in its wildlife reservoir: cowpox and wild rodents. Epidemiology and. Infection 124: 551-562.

Begon, M., Hazel, S.M., Baxby, D., Bown, K., Cavanagh, R., Chantrey, J., Jones, T. & Bennett, M. 1999. Transmission dynamics of a zoonotic pathogen within and between wildlife host species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 266: 1-7.

• Bowler, E., Byrne, J., Leclerc, L., Roberto-Charron, A., Rogers, M., Cavanagh, R., Harasimo, J., Lancaster, M., Chan, R., Strickson, O., Wilkinson, J., Downie, R., Hosking, J., & Andersson, T. (2025). Pan-Arctic 93-day sea ice concentration forecasts from the IceNet model and mappings between sea ice concentration and Dolphin and Union caribou sea ice crossing-start times (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/8738b3cb-52c7-4b36-aa6d-6e15c0b46ba4

1. Creating Standards for Climate Experiments

   Eco-ICE studies whether making Arctic sea ice thicker could harm ocean life and creates tools to help decision-makers work out if climate projects are safe.

   Read more of: Creating Standards for Climate Experiments

   

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.

   Read more of: Conservation and leadership in Southern Ocean ecosystems

   

3. Evaluating climate change risks to Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish

   This project assesses how climate change affects Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish populations in the South Atlantic. Led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), it focuses on the UK Overseas Territory of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands.

   Read more of: Evaluating climate change risks to Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish

   

4. AI for smart conservation

   The AI for smart conservation project combines sea ice forecasts, satellite data, and GPS tracking to create early-warning systems for Arctic wildlife.

   Read more of: AI for smart conservation

   

5. Science-Policy Challenges in Polar Conservation and Management

   The British Antarctic Survey and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) are convening a series of half day workshops focused on the science-policy interaction within highly topical conservation and management issues.

   Read more of: Science-Policy Challenges in Polar Conservation and Management

   

Extant: Drivers and Impacts of Extreme Weather Events in Antarctica

Fisheries management outside the polar regions: Nature-Based Solutions Initiative | Conserving sharks and rays in the global south (naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org)

1. Leading scientists warn of global impacts as Antarctic nears tipping points

   As governments convene for the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) June 14–24, 2021, an Expert Working Group1 of leading Antarctic scientists warns that climate change is pushing this remote […]

   Read more of: Leading scientists warn of global impacts as Antarctic nears tipping points

   

2. Antarctic sea ice loss explained in new study

   Scientists have discovered that summer sea ice in the Weddell Sea area of Antarctica has decreased by one million square kilometres – an area twice the size of Spain – […]

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3. Studies highlight fragility of Antarctic ecosystems

   Two studies published in a special issue of the journal Science Advances this week (27 November 2019) highlight the fragility of the Antarctic and its ecosystems in the lead up […]

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4. Bright spots at the science-policy-practice interface – what makes a success story?

   This workshop is the 3rd in a series of workshops the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) are convening on Science-Policy Challenges in Polar Conservation and Management.

   Read more of: Bright spots at the science-policy-practice interface – what makes a success story?

   

5. New study calls for unified research to understand changing ecosystems

   A new multidisciplinary study led by scientists at British Antarctic Study (BAS) stresses the need for an integrated approach to understand the effects of climate change on Antarctic marine ecosystems. […]

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6. FEATURED PAPER: Ecosystem Services

   Intensifying pressures from fisheries, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change are driving global declines in marine biodiversity. Despite widespread conservation efforts there is a growing argument that traditional approaches have […]

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7. Special feature highlights the value of biodiversity

   Scientists agree that meeting the ever-increasing needs of the Earth’s human population while maintaining biological diversity is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Despite bold international commitments, biodiversity […]

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8. NEWS STORY: Bridging the gap in the krill debate

   Event: Understanding the objectives for krill fishing and conservation in the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula Region Convened by the British Antarctic Survey, ICED and WWF WWF’s Living Planet […]

   Read more of: NEWS STORY: Bridging the gap in the krill debate