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Staff Profile

Dr Jordan Cuff

Academic Track Fellow

Background

I am an ecological entomologist investigating the mechanisms driving trophic interactions using molecular techniques and nutritional analysis. I lead the Foraging Ecology Research Group which investigates trophic interactions, the behaviour and ecology that prelude them, and the biotic and abiotic constraints that determine them. I am particularly interested in improving our understanding of the mechanisms underlying trophic interactions using interdisciplinary approaches. 


For more information, please visit my ,   or .

 

Brief CV

  • 2023-2028 (current): 缅北禁地 Academic Track Fellow, "Increasing efficacy of nature-based solutions for sustainable agriculture by unravelling the molecular mechanisms of prey choice".
  • 2021-2023: 缅北禁地, Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Stacking of ecosystem services: mechanisms and interactions for optimal crop protection, pollination enhancement, and productivity (EcoStack)" with Prof Darren Evans, funded by EU H2020.
  • 2021: Cardiff University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Metagenomic and metaviromic monitoring of SARS-CoV2 in wastewater" with Prof Peter Kille and Prof Andrew Weightman, funded by Ser Cymru.
  • 2020-2021: Cardiff University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Defining a standard operating procedure for portable molecular ecological analyses using nanopore sequencing" with Prof Peter Kille, funded by Global Challenges Research Fund.
  • 2016-2020: Cardiff University, PhD, "Nutrient-specific foraging and the role of spiders as biocontrol agents" with Prof William Symondson, Dr Carsten Muller, Dr Ian Vaughan, Dr James Bell and Dr Pablo Orozco-terWengel, funded by BBSRC SWBio DTP.
  • 2017-2018: National Museum Wales, Biodiversity Collections Assistant, with Dr Ben Rowson.
  • 2015-2016: Cardiff University, MRes Biosciences, "Invertebrate communities of wood decay in beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunks" with Dr Hefin Jones and Prof Lynne Boddy.
  • 2011-2014: Cardiff University, BSc Biology.

 

External Activities

  • Founding Editor-in-Chief, Approaches in Entomology (2026-present)
  • Editor-in-Chief, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2024-present)
  • Focus Team Lead, Group on Insect Nutrition To Open Nutritional Innovative Challenges (GIN-TONIC) COST Action (2024-present)
  • UKEOF DNA Working Group Steering Committee (2024-present)
  • BBSRC People and Talent Strategy Advisory Panel Researcher Subgroup member (2022-present)
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Global Change Biology (2026-present)
  • Royal Entomological Society Open Science Working Group (2024-present)
  • Royal Entomological Society Publications Committee (2023-present)
  • Invertebrate Biodiversity Advisor, Frozen Ark (2019-present)
  • Royal Entomological Society Sustainable Agriculture Special Interest Group convenor (2023-2024)
  • Subject Editor, Bulletin of Entomological Research (2022-2024)
  • Associate Editor, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2023-2024)
  • Editorial Board, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2021-2023)
  • British Arachnological Society Online Surveys Coordinator (2020)
  • Cardiff Science Café/Innovation in Isolation Coordinator (2016-2020)


Internal Activities

  • Developing Excellent Researchers Committee Co-chair (2023-present)
  • 缅北禁地 Open Research Champion (2024-present)
  • 缅北禁地 Cross-Faculty Researcher Network Networking Lead (2024-present)
  • Researchers Empowering 缅北禁地 conference organiser (2022-2024)
  • 缅北禁地 Cross-Faculty Researcher Network Co-founder and Lead (2022-2024)
  • SNESFest (School of Natural and Environmental Sciences annual symposium) Planning Committee (2022-2023)
  • School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Research Associate Committee Chair (2022-2023)

 

Society Memberships

  • Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society
  • British Arachnological Society
  • British Ecological Society
  • Genetics Society
  • Verrall Association of Entomologists


Research

Research themes

Foraging ecology is the study of how organisms search for, obtain, and use food resources in their natural environment. This encompasses trophic interactions, but also the factors that drive these interactions, and their consequences. By investigating these interactions, we can understand how organisms optimise their food intake and energy expenditure. These processes underpin the healthy functioning of every ecosystem, including our food systems. How systems respond to change affects our ability to feed the growing global population. Understanding these fundamental drivers of ecology enhances our understanding and appreciation of the complexity of life.


My research uses cutting-edge molecular methods and an interdisciplinary range of approaches to investigate the mechanisms driving interactions between organisms, particularly predator-prey interactions. I lead the Foraging Ecology Research Group which studies trophic interactions and wider ecological phenomena in natural and semi-natural systems.

 

Selected key research outputs

  • Cuff, J.P., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Vaughan, I.P., Drake, L.E., Wilder, S.M., Bell, J.R., Müller, C.T., Orozco-terWengel, P. & Symondson, W.O.C. (2025). . Oikos, 2025(2): e10712.
  • Cuff, J.P., Evans, D.M., Vaughan, I.P., Wilder, S.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G. & Windsor, F.M. (2024). . Journal of Animal Ecology, 93 (8), 974-988.
  • Cuff, J.P., Kitson, J.J.N., Hemprich-Bennett, D., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Browett, S.S., Evans, D.M. (2023).  Molecular Ecology Resources. 23(1): 41-51.
  • Cuff, J.P., Windsor, F.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Kitson, J.J.N. & Evans, D.M. (2022) . Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 13(3): 545-559.
  • Cuff, J.P., Wilder, S.M., Tercel, M.P.T.G., Hunt, R., Oluwaseun, S., Morley, P.S., Badell-Grau, R.A., Vaughan, I.P., Bell, J.R., Orozco-terWengel, P., Symondson, W.O.C. & Müller, C.T. (2021) . Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 12(4): 593-601.

 

Upcoming preprinted research

  • Miller, K.A., Cuff, J.P., Saleiko, K. & Blake, M. (2026). . EcoEvoRxiv.
  • Christopher, R.*, Wright, R.*, Windsor, F.M. & Cuff, J.P. (2025). . bioRxiv.
  • Attar, B., Kitson, J.J.N., Cuff, J.P., Howard, B., Lages, A., Gomez, D. & Boonham, N. (2024). . bioRxiv.


Foraging Ecology Research Group

  • Lucy Mallard (Postdoc) 'Autonomous collection and analysis of airborne spores to protect fruit crops' (Innovate UK-funded, 2024-2026).
  • Rosy Christopher (PhD) 'Investigating predator-plant interactions as indirect drivers of ecosystem services' (2024-2027).
  • Mia Croft (PhD) 'The impact of artificial light at night on optimal foraging, trophic networks and ecosystem services' (2024-2028).
  • Will Dawson (PhD) 'Building belowground invertebrate trophic networks for soil health monitoring using metagenomics and ecoacoustics' (2024-2027).
  • Broghan Erland (PhD) 'The biodiversity and carbon benefits of wood pasture vs agro-forestry' (2024-2026).
  • Basem Attar (PhD) 'Abundance, diversity and phylogenetic study of the faba bean foot and root rot disease complex in the UK' (2022-2026).
  • Ben Hawthorne (PhD) 'Applying eDNA/metabarcoding for the biomonitoring and assessment of Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs)' (2022-2026). Primary supervisor: Professor Darren Evans.
  • Ainsley Hatt (PhD) 'The impact of ocean warming on the biofouling of artificial structures' (2024-2027). Primary supervisor: Dr Heather Sugden.
  • Jack Longsden (PhD) 'The effects of climate warming and heatwaves on in situ benthic marine community development' (2024-2028). Primary supervisor: Dr Heather Sugden.
  • Yiran Zhang (PhD) 'Building future community with Postbugs: a multicentric community building' (2024-2027). Primary supervisor: Dr Giles Bailey.
  • Eva Benkhoff (PhD) 'Impacts of drought on the community structure of ants and spiders in subtropical leaf litter and their food-web interactions' (2025-2028). Primary supervisor: Petr Klimeš, Czech Academy of Sciences.
  • Shannon Goldberg (PhD) 'Monitoring and detecting invasive species in anthrobiomes: Bees on the Faroe Islands' (2025-2027). Primary supervisor: Rinke Vinkenoog, Northumbria University.
  • Rebecca Wright (MBiol) 'Investigating the trophic ecology of wood decay arachnids using dietary DNA metabarcoding' (2025-2026).
  • Dheeraj (MRes) 'Investigating nutrition as a driver of predatory arthropod biocontrol in arable fields over winter' (2025-2026).
  • Bethan Griffiths (MRes) 'You are what you eat: Combining metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis to gauge how the diet of the sub-Antarctic fish, Gobinotothen gibberifrons, changes with body size' (2025-2026). primary supervisor: Dr Will Reid.
  • Fin Ryder (MPhil) 'What are the roles of macronutrients in structuring freshwater food webs?' (2025-2026). Primary supervisor: Dr Fred Windsor, Cardiff University.


Foraging Ecology Research Group alumni

  • Maggie White (PhD, completed 2024) 'Harnessing microbially mediated redox processes for sustainable water treatment'. Primary supervisor: Dr Elizabeth Heidrich.
Teaching

Teaching themes

My teaching contributions focus on foraging ecology, entomology, molecular ecology and field ecology.


Modules I currently contribute to:

  • Current Research in Ecology (NES3302)
  • Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation (NES2305)
  • Field-based Ecology: designing experiments, and residential field course (NES2312)
  • Genetics and Evolution (NES1300)
  • MRes Research Project (NES8005)
  • Research Project (NES8300)
Publications

  • Articles

    • Dawson W, Evans DM, Abrahams C, Kitson JJN, Collins L, Cuff JP. . Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2026, Epub ahead of print.
    • Cuff JP, Kitson JJN, Windsor FM, Sint D, Hawthorne BSJ, Traugott M, Anderson CMH, Neidel V, Gatehouse AMR, Thwaites DT, Edwards MG, Evans DM. . Molecular Ecology Resources 2026. In Press.
    • Tercel MPTG, Cuff JP, Symondson WOC, Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Bishop TR, Cole NC, Jolin E, Govier B, Chambon J, Mootoocurpen R, Goder M, Vaughan IP. . Ecology 2025, 106(7), e70158.
    • Coomes JR, Cuff JP, Reichert MS, Davidson GL, Symondson WOC, Quinn JL. . Ecology and Evolution 2025, 17(7), e71565.
    • Ong S-Q, Pinoy N, Lim MH, Bjerge K, Peris-Felipo FJ, Lind R, Cuff JP, Cook SM, Høye TT. . Current Research in Parasitology & Vector-Borne Diseases 2025, 7, 100268.
    • Cuff JP, Tercel MPTG, Vaughan IP, Drake LE, Wilder SM, Bell JR, Müller CT, Orozco-terWengel P, Symondson WOC. . Oikos 2025, 2025(2), e10712.
    • Hawthorne BSJ, Cuff JP, Collins LE, Evans DM. . Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2025, 27(1), 50-66.
    • Wilder SM, Herzog C, Reeves J, Knowles O, Cuff JP. . Journal of Experimental Biology 2025, 228(14), jeb249697.
    • Cuff JP, Gajski D, Michalko R, Košulič O, Pekár S. . Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2025, 27(1), 18-34.
    • South J, Sabini L, Pattison Z, Cuff JP. . Trends in Ecology and Evolution 2025, 40(8), 718-721.
    • Cuff JP, Labonte D, Windsor FM. . Integrative & Comparative Biology 2024, 64(2), 306–321.
    • Cuff JP, Barrett M, Gray H, Fox C, Watt A, Aimé E. . Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2024, 26(3), 285-295.
    • Cuff JP, Tercel MPTG, Windsor FM, Hawthorne BSJ, Hambäck PA, Bell JR, Symondson WOC, Vaughan IP. . Ecological Entomology 2024, 49(3), 418-432.
    • Cuff JP, Evans DM, Vaughan IP, Wilder SM, Tercel MPTG, Windsor FM. . Journal of Animal Ecology 2024, 93(8), 974-988.
    • Petsopoulos D, Cuff JP, Bell JR, Kitson JJN, Collins L, Boonham N, Morales-Hojas R, Evans DM. . Environmental DNA 2024, 6(3), e542.
    • Tercel MPTG, Cuff JP, Vaughan IP, Symondson WOC, Goder M, Matadeen S, Tatayah RVV, Cole NC. . Endangered Species Research 2024, 54, 181-189.
    • Cuff JP, Kitson JJN, Hemprich-Bennett D, Tercel MPTG, Browett SS, Evans DM. . Molecular Ecology Resources 2023, 23(1), 41-51.
    • Cuff JP, Windsor FM, Tercel MPTG, Bell JR, Symondson WOC, Vaughan IP. . Ecography 2023, 2023(7), e06737.
    • Drake LE, Cuff JP, Bedmar S, McDonald R, Symondson WOC, Chadwick EA. . Ecology and Evolution 2023, 13(5), e10038.
    • Tercel MPTG, Cuff JP, Symondson WOC, Vaughan IP. . Insect Conservation and Diversity 2023, 16(6), 733-744.
    • Cuff JP, Dighe SN, Watson SE, Badell-Grau RA, Weightman AJ, Jones DL, Kille P. . JMIR Infodemiology 2023, 3, e43891.
    • Tercel MPTG, Cuff JP. . Molecular Ecology 2022, 31(22), 5653-5659.
    • Tercel MPTG, Moorhouse-Gann RJ, Cuff JP, Drake LE, Cole NC, Goder M, Mootoocurpen R, Symondson WOC. . Ecology and Evolution 2022, 12(1), e8484.
    • Cuff JP, Tercel MPTG, Drake LE, Vaughan IP, Bell JR, Orozco-terWengel P, Müller CT, Symondson WOC. . Environmental DNA 2022, 4(3), 549-564.
    • Cuff JP, Evans SA, Porteous IA, Quinonez J, Evans DM. . Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2022, 24(3), 422-431.
    • Tercel MPTG, Symondson WOC, Cuff JP. . Molecular Ecology 2021, 30(10), 2199-2206.
    • Cuff JP, Windsor FM, Tercel MPTG, Kitson JJN, Evans DM. . Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 13(3), 545-559.
    • Cuff JP, Drake LE, Tercel MPTG, Stockdale JE, Orozco-terWengel P, Bell JR, Vaughan IP, Müller CT, Symondson WOC. . Ecological Entomology 2021, 46(2), 249-261.
    • Cuff JP, Wilder SM, Tercel MPTG, Hunt R, Oluwaseun S, Morley PS, Badell-Grau RA, Vaughan IP, Bell JR, Orozco-terWengel P, Symondson WOC, Müller CT. . Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 12(4), 593-601.
    • Cuff JP, Aharon S, Armiach Steinpress I, Seifan M, Lubin Y, Gavish-Regev E. . Diversity 2021, 13(11), 576.
    • Cuff JP, Windsor FM, Gilmartin EC, Boddy L, Jones TH. . Journal of Insect Science 2021, 21(5), 7.
    • Cuff JP, Müller CT, Gilmartin EC, Boddy L, Jones TH. . Insect Conservation and Diversity 2021, 14(1), 155-162.
    • Drake LE, Cuff JP, Young RE, Marchbank AM, Chadwick EA, Symondson WOC. . Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 13(3), 694-710.
    • Badell-Grau RA, Cuff JP, Kelly BP, Waller-Evans H, Lloyd-Evans E. . Journal of Medical Internet Research 2020, 22, e19791.
    • Ammann L, Moorhouse-Gann R, Cuff JP, Bertrand C, Mestre L, Hidalgo NP, Ellison A, Herzog F, Entling MH, Albrecht M, Symondson WOC. . PLoS ONE 2020, 15(7), e0235054.
    • Telfer MG, Cuff JP, Spelda J, Owen C. . Arachnology 2020, 18(5), 490-496.
    • Bajwa AA, Cuff JP, Imran M, Islam S, Mansha R, Ashraf K, Khan A, Rashid MI, Zahoor MY, Khan WA, Rehman HU, Nadeem A, Orozco-terWengel P, Shehzad W. . European Journal of Wildlife Research 2019, 65, 63.
    • Lafage D, Elbrecht V, Cuff JP, Steinke D, Hambäck PA, Erlandsson A. . Environmental DNA 2019, 2(2), 234-243.

  • Book Chapters

    • Cuff JP, Deivarajan Suresh M, Dopson MEG, Hawthorne BSJ, Howells T, Kitson JJN, Miller KA, Xin T, Evans DM. . In: David A. Bohan, Alex J. Dumbrell, ed. Advances in Ecological Research. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2023, pp.1-34.
    • Cuff JP. . In: C. Philip Wheater, James R. Bell, Penny A. Cook, ed. Practical Field Ecology: A Project Guide. Wiley, 2020.

  • Editorial

    • Cuff JP, Watt A. . Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2025, 27(1), 1-7.

  • Reports

    • Bruford M, Baillie L, Sanderson Bellamy A, Cuff JP, Davidova M, Henderson K, Hutchinson N, James C, Jenkins J, Komar J, Ormerod S, Raye L, Tercel M, Thompson A. Environment (Wales) Act 2016 Part 1 – Section 6: The Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty – Report 2019. Cardiff University, 2020.
    • Bruford M, Baillie L, Sanderson Bellamy A, Cuff JP, Davidova M, Henderson K, Hutchinson N, James C, Jenkins J, Komar J, Ormerod S, Raye L, Tercel M, Thompson A. Cardiff University Ecosystem Resilience and Biodiversity Action Plan (ERBAP) 2021-2023 . Cardiff University, 2020.