Peter Betts

Peter Betts is a Graduate Laboratory Assistant and Postgraduate Research Student at the University of Essex's School of Life Sciences. He holds an MSci in Marine Biology from the University of Southampton (2021). His research focuses on metabolic ecology, particularly how metabolic rate and environmental factors like temperature influence fish biology and ecology. He specializes in stable isotope analysis, using techniques like otolith and eye lens analysis to study fish movement, growth, and survival.

Key research projects include investigating spatial changes in field metabolic rate in Barents Sea teleosts and ontogenic movement patterns in porbeagle and spurdog sharks. Currently, he explores metabolic drivers of growth and survival in salmonids, aiming to inform conservation strategies for threatened species. His work is supervised by Dr. Eoin O’Gorman.

Technical skills include stable isotope analysis, ecophysiological studies, and field metabolic rate modeling. Peter’s research bridges lab-based analysis with applied ecological questions, particularly under climate change scenarios.