Communications Manager
Role and responsibilities
Viola is responsible for promoting BTO science. She also edits BTO News and oversees BTO media and social media.
Interests
Viola has been working full-time in science communications since 2015. Before then, she was a seabird ecologist for several years, and honed her communcation skills tackling inaccurate coverage of gulls in the media. She holds a BTO C permit for bird ringing. Viola has also worked in campaigns for RSPB, in gibbon conservation in Thailand, and in policy for the European Institutions in Brussels.
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Natural Sciences (Zoology), University of Cambridge
PhD Pecking response in Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks Larus fuscus, Cardiff University
Recent BTO publications
- Thaxter, C.B., Quinn, L., Atkinson, P., Booth Jones, K.A., Clark, N.A., Clewley, G.D., Green, R.M.W., O'Hanlon, N.J., Johnston, D.T., Masden, E.A., Ross-Smith, V.H., Sage, E., Scragg, E., Taylor, R., Burton, N.K.H. & Humpreys, E.H. 2025. Breeding and foraging habitat are important in determining foraging ranges of sympatric generalist species. Ibis doi:10.1111/ibi.13446
- Gauld, J.G., Silva, J.P., Atkinson, P.W., Record, P., Acácio, M., Arkumarev, V., Blas, J., Bouten, W., Burton, N., Catry, I., Champagnon, J., Clewley, G.D., Dagys, M., Duriez, O., Exo, M., Fiedler, W., Flack, A., Friedemann, G., Fritz, J., Garcia-Ripolles, C., Garthe, S., Giunchi, D., Grozdanov, A., Harel, R., Humphreys, E.M., Janssen, R., Kölzsch, A., Kulikova, O., Lameris, T.K., López-López, P., Masden, E.A., Monti, F., Nathan, R., Nikolov, S., Oppel, S., Peshev, H., Phipps, L., Pokrovsky, I., Ross-Smith, V.H., Saravia, V., Scragg, E.S., Sforzi, A., Stoynov, E., Thaxter, C., Van Steelant, W., van Toor, M., Vorneweg, B., Waldenström, J., Wikelski, M., Žydelis, R. & Franco, A.M.A. 2022. Hotspots in the grid: avian sensitivity and vulnerability to collision risk from energy infrastructure interactions in Europe and north Africa. Journal of Applied Ecology doi:10.1111/1365-2664.14160
- Thaxter, C.B., Ross-Smith, V.H., Bouten, W., Clark, N.A., Conway, G.J., Masden, E.A., Clewley, G.D., Barber, L.J. & Burton, N.H.K. 2019. Avian vulnerability to wind farm collision through the year: insights from Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) tracked from multiple breeding colonies. Journal of Applied Ecology 2410-2422 doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13488
- Thaxter, C.B., Ross-Smith, V.H., Bouten, W., Masden, E.A., Clark, N.A., Conway, G.J., Barber, L., Clewley, G.D. & Burton, N.H.K. 2018. Dodging the blades: new insights into three-dimensional space use of offshore wind farms by lesser black-backed gulls Larus fuscus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 587: 253. doi:10.3354/meps12415
- Thaxter, C.B., Clark, N.A., Ross-Smith, V.H., Conway, G.J., Bouten, W. & Burton, N.K.H. 2017. Sample size required to characterize area use of tracked seabirds. The Journal of Wildlife Management doi:10.1002/jwmg.21283
- Ross-Smith, V.H., Thaxter, C.B., Masden, E.A., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Burton, N.H.K., Wright, L.J., Rehfisch, M.M. & Johnston, A. 2016. Modelling flight heights of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Great Skuas from GPS: a Bayesian approach. Journal of Applied Ecology 53: doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12760
- Thaxter, C.B., Ross-Smith, V.H., Clark, J.A., Clark, N.A., Conway, G.J., Masden, E.A., Wade, H.M., Leat, E.H.K., Gear, S.C., Marsh, M., Booth, C., Furness, R.W., Votier, S.C. & Burton, N.H.K. 2016. Contrasting effects of GPS device and harness attachment on adult survival of Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus and Great Skuas Stercorarius skua. Ibis 158: 290. doi:10.1111/ibi.12340
- Rock, P., Camphuysen, C.J., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Ross-Smith, V.H. & Vaughan, I.P. 2016. Results from the first GPS tracking of roof-nesting Herring Gulls Larus argentatus in the UK. Ringing & Migration 31: doi:10.1080/03078698.2016.1197698
Other publications
Ross-Smith, V.H., Johnston, A. & Ferns, P.N. 2015. Hatching success in Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus – an island case study of the effects of egg and nest site quality. Seabird 28: 1–16.
Ross-Smith, V.H., Conway, G.J., Facey, R.J., Bailey, B.H., Lipton, M., Whitfield, S.A. & Ferns, P.N. 2013. Population size, ecology and movements of gulls breedingon Flat Holm Island. Birds in Wales 10: 7–21.
Ferns, P.N. & Ross-Smith, V.H. 2009. Function of coloured bill tips, stripes and spots in breeding gulls. Marine Ornithology 37: 85–92.