About me

Unlike most biologists, I first obtained a degree in Public Administration with a special emphasis on European Studies and Sustainable Development (Dutch-German Double Diploma) from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (Germany) and the Universiteit Twente (The Netherlands).

​

After an internship in an socio-ecological consultancy and travelling abroad, I was lucky to be able to join the Erasmus Mundus MSc. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management jointly awarded by the Central European University (Hungary), University of Manchester (UK), Lund University (Sweden), and University of the Aegean (Greece).

​

​The Master’s degree opened up new avenues for me. I went on to work in nature conservation focusing on protecting sea and coastal birds and their habitats. I lived among others on the tiny island of Neuwerk (Germany), which is one of three Wadden Sea National Parks in the North Sea and designated UNESCO World Heritage sites – the largest continuous mudflat area in the world ranging from Denmark to The Netherlands. It was there that I feel in love with mudflats, the diversity of life they host and particularly waders!

​

​In 2016 I came to the UK for my PhD at the University of Plymouth with Professor Mark Briffa in which I studied the effects of anthropogenic noise on the behaviour of the iconic European hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus. We showed that anthropogenic noise alters shell assessment (Tidau & Briffa 2019, Behavioral Ecology) and grouping preferences (Tidau & Briffa 2019a, Animal Behaviour), both of which are vital for survival and fitness in these animals.

​

​I moved on to work for as a postdoctoral researcher on the interdisciplinary, Natural Environment Research Council funded project “Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems” (ALICE) with Dr Thomas W. Davies (first at Bangor University, later back in Plymouth). Our research focus was the impact of artificial light at night (ALAN) on early life stages across a range of intertidal species by measuring survival, development, growth, and physiology. I spent many hours in the laboratory counting larvae! Our most recent result show that ALAN can impair larval survival and growth in important ecosystem engineering species, namely the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and the barnacle Austrominius modestus (Tidau et al. 2023, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B). We also published a best-practise guide on marine light pollution research (Tidau et al. 2021, Methods in Ecology and Evolution), which brings together the expertise across biology, ecology, and optical oceanography to establish standards in our field.

​

​Since October 2023, I am Lecturer in Wildlife Ecology at the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences at Bangor University, Wales, UK. Exciting times for research and teaching!