University of Oxford
11a Mansfield Rd
OX1 3SZ
UK
Alexander Dhond
Background
Funnily enough, I actually entered undergraduate as a pre-medical student! In my third year of university, however, I was fortunate enough to embark on an internship on bamboo agroforestry in Ecuador. While I was there, I learned about sustainable agriculture and the use of regenerative crops like bamboo in construction and architecture, and I was inspired by the use of plants as a nature-based solution to societal problems. When I returned, I promptly changed my degree and began working as a research assistant in an agroecology lab on campus, where I became interested in understanding how humans were affecting the environment through climate and anthropogenic pressures.
I then went on to complete an MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London, where I studied the effects of land-use change on insect biodiversity in the Neotropics. Following my degree, I was keen to gain real-world research experience in the biodiversity and conservation space, so I joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where I have led two research projects, one focusing on computational approaches to aquatic toxicology assessment, and one focusing on better understanding the ecosystem services of coastal wetlands.
These varied experiences have led me to pursue my DPhil at the University of Oxford, where I hope to combine my knowledge to better understand how net environmental outcome instruments can contribute to wetland restoration and recovery.
I then went on to complete an MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London, where I studied the effects of land-use change on insect biodiversity in the Neotropics. Following my degree, I was keen to gain real-world research experience in the biodiversity and conservation space, so I joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where I have led two research projects, one focusing on computational approaches to aquatic toxicology assessment, and one focusing on better understanding the ecosystem services of coastal wetlands.
These varied experiences have led me to pursue my DPhil at the University of Oxford, where I hope to combine my knowledge to better understand how net environmental outcome instruments can contribute to wetland restoration and recovery.
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in wetlands ecology and conservation. I am interested in better understanding causes of wetland degradation, strategies and policies (like Biodiversity Net Gain) for improving the ecological condition of wetland ecosystems, and the interactions between biodiversity and carbon dynamics in wetland ecosystems.
Current Research
My DPhil will explore stressors causing wetland loss in the US and UK and how net environmental outcome policies (No Net Loss, Biodiversity Net Gain, Nutrient Neutrality, etc) can improve wetland restoration and conservation outcomes. I will combine field data collection of biological and chemical wetland characteristics at UK sites with data synthesis approaches for thousands of wetland restoration projects in the US to link development stressors, restoration outcomes, and characteristics of project policies that led to successful wetland outcomes.
Brief CV
Education:
2024 – current: DPhil. Biology, University of Oxford
2020 – 2021: MSc. Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Imperial College London.
2016 – 2020: B.S. Molecular Environmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley.
Professional experience:
2023 – 2024: ORISE Research Fellow, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA
2022: Ecotoxicity Data Analyst, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Pensacola, FL, USA
Publications
Dhond, A., Barron, M. (2022). Advancing Fifth Percentile Hazard Concentration Estimation Using Toxicity-Normalized Species Sensitivity Distributions. Environmental Science and Technology: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c06857
Debray, R., Socolar, Y., Kaulbach, G., Guzman, A., Hernandez, C.A., Curley, R., Dhond, A., Bowles, T., Koskella, B. (2021). Water stress and disruption of mycorrhizae induce parallel shifts in phyllosphere microbiome composition. New Phytologist: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17817