Regional Representative - East England
Dr Alvin Helden has a primary interest in the biodiversity of habitats in urban and agricultural areas and in restored ecosystems. He specialises in insects, particularly leafhoppers and other true bugs (Hemiptera).
Dr Helden’s main research interests are in the areas of biodiversity, ecology and conservation. He specialises in insects within the true bugs (Hemiptera), especially the leafhoppers and planthoppers. He has worked in urban areas, agricultural grasslands and restored gravel pits, collaborating with a range of research partners including local councils, the RSPB, Teagasc (The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) and Hanson.
His agricultural work has included investigations into grassland field margins, agri-environment schemes and experimental work on the influence of differing grassland plant mixtures. Alvin is particularly interested in the relationship between grassland structural heterogeneity and arthropod communities. He has studied the ecology of the very rare tall fescue planthopper and In 2014, Alvin won first prize in the UK Quarry Life Awards for his work on the invertebrates of restored gravel workings. More recently he has been working to document the Auchenorrhyncha (leafhoppers and related insects) of Kibale National Park in Uganda.
