Academic Path

Fall / Autumn Semester

Essentials of Stable Isotope Ecology:

- September & October 2026
- 5 sessions × 3 hour sessions = 15 hours of live, group instruction

We will begin with theory, five weekly tutorials through will take you from first principles through to the full ecological toolkit. Each session is structured around core topics, with generous time built in for questions, discussion, and connecting the material to your own research questions.

Session 1 — What are stable isotopes? δ notation, fractionation, international standards, and how isotopes are measured (EA-IRMS, QC, precision)

Session 2 — Isotopes in the environment: carbon (C3/C4, Suess effect, aquatic vs terrestrial), nitrogen (N cycle, anthropogenic signals, pollution tracing), and their use as ecological tracers

Session 3 — Hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur: water isotopes, isoscapes, migration and provenance applications, sulphur in food web ecology.

Session 4 — Isotopes in organisms: tissue turnover, diet reconstruction, and multi-tissue approaches

Session 5 — Trophic applications: reading biplots, mixing model concepts and assumptions, trophic position estimation, isotopic niche (SIBER), individual specialisation, and Layman food web metrics

Winter / Spring Semester

Stable Isotope Data Analysis Through R

- January & February 2027
- 4 sessions × 4 hours = 16 hours of live, group instruction

The data course picks up in January, once you've had a semester to absorb the theory and — for many participants — collect some data of your own. Working through a real dataset in R, each session builds your analytical toolkit progressively, from data QC through to Bayesian food web metrics.

Session 1 — Setting up R, RStudio and R Markdown. Importing and understanding lab output. Data QC: evaluating precision, lipid corrections, C:N ratios, inorganic carbon checks. Building and interpreting biplots in ggplot2

Session 2 — Mixing models: from the two-source Post (2002) framework to Bayesian approaches with simmr. Setting up sources, running MCMC chains, checking convergence, interpreting posterior distributions

Session 3 — Mixing models with covariates (CoSimmr) and hierarchical designs (MixSIAR). Trophic position: two-source baseline model and the trophicPosition Bayesian R package

Session 4 — Isotopic niche analysis with SIBER: standard ellipses (SEAb), niche overlap, nicheTools. Community food web structure: Layman metrics with Bayesian credibility intervals

WHY TAKE THE ACADEMIC PATH?

Timed for your research

Theory in autumn gives you the conceptual grounding before your spring fieldwork season. Data skills in spring mean you're ready to analyse the data you've just collected.

Live and interactive

Theory in autumn gives you the conceptual grounding before your spring fieldwork season. Data skills in spring mean you're ready to analyse the data you've just collected.

Learn alongside peers

You'll be working through the material alongside other researchers at similar career stages. Questions you didn't know you had get answered because someone else asked them.

Carry it forward

Session recordings and all course materials are available to participants after each session. Scripts from are written to be adapted — swap in your own species, sources, and baselines.

IS THIS FOR YOU?

The Academic Path is designed for:

MSc and PhD students incorporating stable isotopes into their thesis work
Postdoctoral researchers starting a new project involving isotope methods
Early-career academics building isotope skills for grant applications or teaching
Anyone who wants structured, supported learning across a full academic year rather than a single intensive workshop
No prior isotope experience required.
No prior R experience required.

FORMAT & PRICING

Format: Live online · Small cohort · International participants welcome

Sessions: 9 weekly tutorials (16 hours theory + 16 hours data = 32 hours total)

Schedule: Part 1 September–October · Part 2 January–February

Price: €500