William Kay

Dr. William Kay is a Lecturer in Statistics (Teaching & Scholarship) at Cardiff University's School of Biosciences. He serves as Degree Scheme Coordinator for Biological Sciences and Deputy Lead for the MSc in Global Ecology and Conservation. His academic roles also include being an Admissions Tutor, Assessment Lead for BI1002 Structure and Function of Living Organisms, and Lead of the SWBio DTP Statistics Week.

Dr. Kay received his educational background from Swansea University, completing a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology (2010-2013), an MSc (Res) in Animal Movement Science (2013-2015), and a PhD in Movement Ecology (2016-2020).

Dr. Kay's research spans two main domains. In educational research, he focuses on statistics anxiety and effective learning environments for statistics education. His scholarship includes developing innovative teaching strategies, statistics learning aids ('Statistics Shorts'), and methods to increase retention of statistical knowledge. In biological research, he investigates animal movement ecology, particularly the drivers of individual- and population-level animal movement to predict impacts of anthropogenic disturbance and environmental change. His work often centers on marine megafauna, including seals and penguins, and he has expertise in biologging technology and computational approaches to optimize research methods.

Dr. Kay has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the 2023 UK and Ireland Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Statistics Support Network, Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA), and multiple nominations for Cardiff University's Enriching Student Life Awards. His research has been supported by grants from organizations including the Research Culture Fund, Pobl Trust, and Erasmus Mobility programs.

As an educator, Dr. Kay teaches statistics, ecology, marine field skills, and employability skills across both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. He supervises numerous student projects on topics ranging from statistics anxiety to animal movement ecology and biologging technology. Dr. Kay is also actively involved in professional communities, serving as Communications and Online Resources Representative for the British Ecological Society's Movement Ecology Special Interest Group and as an officer for the UCU Environmental Working Group.

Outside academia, Dr. Kay is a SARA Lifeboat Coxswain, Commercial RYA Skipper, and BSAC Advanced Instructor, reflecting his commitment to marine conservation and safety. He lives a vegan lifestyle aligned with his environmental values and is learning to speak Welsh.