Dr Hassal is a lecturer in Animal Biology with the School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, at the University of Leeds. He holds a PhD on the impacts of environmental warming on dragonflies from the University of Liverpool.
Dr Hassal’s primary interests lie in the biological impacts of (i) climate change and (ii) urbanisation. His work investigates changing geographical (distribution) and temporal (phenology) patterns of species occurrence using historical datasets. Alongside his ecological research, Dr Hassal is interested in the ways that form and function interact with the environment in the case of insect flight. He is also maintaining a funded programme of research on pedagogical advances in higher education. Particular areas of interest include identifying and breaking down barriers to the use of technology as well testing the effectiveness of teaching interventions.
His work involves collaborations with various groups across the University of Leeds. For example, he is a co-leader of the Ecology and Evolution Group and an active member of Water@Leeds and the University of Leeds Biology Education Research Group (ULBERG).
