Rachel Stubbington
Freshwater Ecologist
Rachel is a freshwater ecologist whose research explores macroinvertebrate community responses to hydrological variability in river ecosystems. She is particularly interested in how communities respond to low flows and drying in temporary rivers. Rachel’s research has contributed to the conceptualization of temporary rivers as dynamic aquatic–terrestrial ecosystems in which shifts between wet and dry states support high biodiversity.
Rachel is a Professor at Nottingham Trent University, where she leads the Dynamic Streams Research Group. Her group seeks to better understand temporary river communities, including the aquatic and terrestrial species that dominate during wet and dry phases, respectively. A particular focus is to disentangle ecological responses to drying from responses to anthropogenic degradation. As temporary streams increase in extent due to global change, Rachel collaborates closely with river managers to ensure her research informs the development of tools that support effective biomonitoring in wet and dry temporary streams.
Rachel is an educator with extensive experience of undergraduate to postgraduate-level teaching in freshwater ecology, and she involves students and graduates in real-world research. Rachel’s commitment to supporting early career freshwater ecologists is also evidenced by her contribution to international training events funded by EU COST and by the British Council.
