An American songbird named the western yellow-breasted chat has helped a University of East Anglia student win an annual ecology prize from the Bishop of Norwich.

Liz Allocca, who grew up in New York, chose to study in Norwich because of the UEA's international reputation for environmental science and research.

She wanted to understand how climate change affects species in vulnerable ecosystems, so her research follows the yellow-breasted chat, which lives in areas of dense vegetation in Canada and the USA, migrating to Mexico and Central America every winter.

“By refining our knowledge of how extreme weather and environmental changes affect their survival, we can better predict the threats they face and develop strategies to protect them in the future,” she said.

She said she was "incredibly grateful" and "honoured" for her work to be recognised with the £1,000 Bishop of Norwich Prize for Ecology - awarded annually to the UEA student achieving the highest marks for a masters dissertation in applied ecology and conservation.

The prize was presented by the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham Usher, who studied ecology at university himself and is the Church of England's lead bishop for the environment.

“It is good to be able to support this kind of research,” he said. “The work which Liz, and fellow students and academics at the University of East Anglia are doing, gives us vital information about what is happening to the natural world and the actions we need to take to protect our precious planet and its wildlife.”

Prof Simon Butler, course director for the MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation at the UEA said the award recognised both students' individual achievements and the wider importance of research in applied ecology and conservation.

"The generous support and encouragement from the Bishop of Norwich is a powerful fillip for them as they embark on their conservation careers, particularly given the global biodiversity and climate crises we currently face," he said. 

Miss Allocca is now embarking on a PhD at UEA, and said the prize money would support her research, looking at how human activity affects the gut microbiome of birds.

She hopes to help improve conservation strategies and find ways of reducing disease transmission between wild and domestic animals and humans.