Alec Christie

Alec Christie is an Imperial College Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London (2024–2028), and holds concurrent roles as Visiting Researcher at the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology and Associate Lecturer at the Open University. He is also a Bye Fellow at Downing College, Cambridge. His research focuses on evidence-based conservation, AI applications in conservation decision-making, and addressing biases in conservation evidence. Christie holds a PhD in Zoology from the University of Cambridge (2021), an MSc in Conservation Science and Practice (co-convenor role), and a BSc in Marine Biology from the University of St Andrews (2017).

Research Interests:

• Evaluation of evidence-based practices in conservation
• Cost-benefit analysis of conservation interventions
• AI-driven tools for accelerating evidence synthesis
• Quantifying biases in conservation study designs
• Global conservation priorities and policy alignment

Teaching: Co-teaches the MSc Conservation Science and Practice program at Imperial College, specializing in evidence-based decision-making modules. Previously, he held a Henslow Fellowship (2021–2024) and contributed to the Open University's S397 Ecosystems module.

Awards: Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research Impact (2023) and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2022).

Collaborations: Leads projects with the Conservation Evidence team and develops decision-support tools for practitioners. Active in fieldwork across Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef, and Türkiye.