James is a PhD student supervised by Prof. Emily Nicholson, Dr. Tina Parkhurst and Dr. Julianna Santos. He is researching how ecosystem integrity can be measured and the threats that impact ecosystem integrity over time. The research is a collaboration with the IUCN and focuses on five key sites in the Global South aiming to support Nature Positive outcomes for ecosystems. James utilises both remote sensing, as well as field work data to study ecosystem change based on conceptual models developed for the ecosystems.

James holds a BSc (Zoology) and a MSc (Biomolecular Science) from the University College Dublin, Ireland. His previous work focused on using eDNA to study Irish bat diets, trophic interactions and their habitat association.