The Oxford Navigation Group

Research Fellow MCEM & OxNav​

Biography & Research Interests:

I am a Schmidt AI in Science postdoctoral research fellow in the Oxford Department of Biology and Reuben College, and a member of both the MCEM and OxNav research groups. I am broadly interested in conservation research at the intersection of marine ecology and conservation governance. My research examines the seabird-fishery interactions that lead to bycatch, one of the greatest threats to seabird populations worldwide. I am currently developing computer vision models to examine these interactions in video, in collaboration with the Oxford Visual Geometry Group, New Zealand Department of Conservation, BirdLife International, and New Zealand fishing industry. This works builds off my DPhil research (2022-2026), which examined seabird-vessel interactions using biologging data (GPS, GLS-immersion, audio) and vessel tracking data (AIS, VMS). To do so, I used both bird behaviour and vessel sound to detect unseen interactions with vessels not using AIS.

 

Prior to my PhD, I studied Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at Yale University (2014-2018). I then spent three years (2018-2021) in the Dayer Human Dimensions Lab at Virginia Tech University, where my research examined racial and ethnic diversity in birdwatching, as well as drivers of wetland conservation involvement. I then completed an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Management in the Oxford School of Geography and the Environment, during which I began studying seabirds. Outside academia, I am a retired swimmer for both New Zealand and the University of Oxford.

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Contact:

jonathan.rutter@biology.ox.ac.uk

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Selected publications:

 

Rutter, J. D., Carneiro, A. P. B., Catry, P., Maurice, L., Padget, O., Davis, K. J., & Guilford, T. (2025). Immersion patterns alone can predict vessel following by albatrosses. Journal of Applied Ecology, 62(8), 1831–1843.

 

Rutter, J. D., Borrelle, S. B., Bose, S., Carneiro, A. P. B., Clark, B. L., Debski, I., Elliott, G., Fischer, J. H., Walker, K., & Pittman, S. J. (2024). A probabilistic time geographic approach to quantifying seabird-vessel interactions. Animal Conservation, 27(6), 816–829.

 

Rutter, J. D., Dayer, A. A., & Raedeke, A. H. (2022). Ecological awareness, connection to wetlands, and wildlife recreation as drivers of wetland conservation involvement. Wetlands, 42(2), 18.

 

Rutter, J. D., Dayer, A. A., Harshaw, H. W., Cole, N. W., Duberstein, J. N., Fulton, D. C., Raedeke, A. H., & Schuster, R. M. (2021). Racial, ethnic, and social patterns in the recreation specialization of birdwatchers: An analysis of United States eBird registrants. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 35, 100400.

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A full list of my publications can be found on ORCID and Google Scholar. ​

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