Dr Stewart Finlayson is the Director of the Department of Natural History at the Gibraltar National Museum and project co-Director at the Gorham’s cave Complex, UNESCO World Heritage Site in Gibraltar. Stewart is a research fellow at the University of Liverpool, John Moores, and an Adjunct Researcher at the University of Gibraltar. He read for his PhD at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (UK) and specialised on the relationship between Neanderthals and Birds. Stewart is an author of a number of scientific papers and four books, and is currently working on a commissioned book series looking at the Ecology and Biogeography of the birds of Europe. Since 2016 he is leading a study on the spatial and temporal dynamics of the Schreiber’s Bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) in Gibraltar and southern Spain. The aim is to piece together the movements of this highly migratory species and answer the question ‘Do bats cross the Strait of Gibraltar’. In 2019, Stewart was made a member of the IUCN Bat Specialist Group and of the Mediterranean Specialist Group. He is the representative for Gibraltar and works with his counterparts in Spain and Portugal advising on species status in the Iberian Peninsula amongst other things. Stewart spent 6 years on the board of SECEMU, Spain’s bat specialist NGO and is a committee member of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS). Stewart is a successful, award-winning Wildlife Photographer, member of the Royal Photographic Society and has published his works in various books and magazines. Some have been highly commended in the prestigious ‘Bird Photographer of the year awards’ and also shortlisted in the BBC ‘Wildlife Photographer of the year’ awards.
