Dr Rona McGill

My main research interests are environmental and ecological applications of Stable isotopes. But I have worked in projects applying stable isotope analytical techniques to solving geological, archaeological, environmental and ecological problems. Elucidating marine and terrestrial food webs (with carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotopes), tracing pollution sources (for lead), or distinguishing 17th century metallurgical processes for brass alloying (zinc isotopes). I am currently involved with projects looking at the impacts of urbanisation on diet and fitness in birds (blue tits); investigating whether cleaner fishes rely entirely on parasites for food; determining how much dietary overlap there is between wildebeest and zebra in the Serengeti ecosystem; and looking at the impacts of ocean acidification on shell growth in mussels and oysters.