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Feargus Cooney

Associate Lecturer

I have been teaching on Marine and Natural History Photography since 2014. Having a double set of qualifications in both biosciences/ecology and photography, my expertise can be divided into the two categories.

As a freelance photographer/filmmaker I have undertaken numerous independently organised expeditions in remote wilderness locations on every continent except Antarctica. Photographic work produced on these endeavours has been published globally in books, advertisements, calendars, and more, including Lonely Planet Guidebooks and National Geographic Magazine. I am a contributing photographer with Getty Images (formerly with Lonely Planet Images). As a filmmaker I produce promotional/educational films for scientific research groups and University science departments. My independent travel/expedition films have been featured on the National Geographic Channel and published widely online.

I am also a published and practising scientist, with an intimate knowledge of the scientific process and how it is used in the context of ecology, conservation and animal behaviour. Currently I am undertaking a PhD in insect behaviour and cognition, which involves not only research but also networking with other scientists and institutions, including considerable involvement with the Natural History Museum in London.

Given the heavy focus on animal behaviour in the world of Natural History Photography and filmmaking, the insight and contacts with other researchers working in this field act as an exceptional resource for the students interested in working with scientists. A combination of being able to understand and negotiate the worlds of scientific research and photography helps me in my teaching of students requiring insight into both fields on the Marine and Natural History Photography course.
  • Photographic Website
  • Research Profile Page
Emailfeargus.cooney@falmouth.ac.uk
  • Qualifications
  • Research Interests
  • Research Outputs
  • Teaching
  • Business Engagement

    Qualifications

    Qualifications

    YearQualificationAwarding body
    2004
    BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
    University of Wales Newport
    2008
    Documentary Filmmaking course
    Met Film School, London
    2014
    BSc (Hons) 1st-class, Conservation Biology and Ecology
    University of Exeter
    2020
    PhD Social Brains and Behaviour in cooperative insect societies
    University of Exeter - in progress

    Research Interests

    Research interests and expertise

    My Photographic practice is focused on exploration and wilderness. As such I have extensive experience planning and undertaking expeditions to sometimes extremely remote locations. I am interested in the relative purity of such places, and in bringing the surprising vastness of the worlds untamed areas into my work. I am especially interested in cutting edge exploration and using both film and still photography to document visits to literally untouched places, be they first ascents of mountains, exploring caves, or the underwater environment in remote freshwater habitats.

    My scientific research explores the evolution of the brain in Social insects. Specifically I perform extensive behavioural observations of wasps in the wild, and also use cutting-edge micro computer tomography to visualize the insects brains in three dimensions. The aims of this research are to investigate a potential causal link between the cognitive demands of being social and the volume of specific brain regions, or to put it more simply, if you have to socialise in a complex group, do you need to be more brainy?

    Research topics

    • Wilderness photography
    • landscape photography
    • wildlife
    • cognition
    • animal societies
    • Evolution
    • animal behaviour

    Research Outputs

    Events

    YearDescription
    2004

    The Blaskets, an exhibition of work covering the Blasket Islands off the southwest coast of Ireland, held in 'The Blasket Centre' in Dunquinn, County Kerry

    2006

    'Perspective', an exhibition of aerial images of the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland, taken from the photographers own motorised paraglider. Held at the Signal Arts Centre in Bray, Ireland

    Externally funded research grants information

    Year startingYear endingProject titleFunderCurrencyValueCollaboratorsHESA Category
    2016
    2020
    Social Brains and Behaviour in Cooperative Insect Societies
    National Environment Research Council
    GBP
    No data

    Exeter University, Natural History Museum, Bristol University

    4 UK central government bodies/local authorities, health & hospital authorities

    Teaching

    Areas of teaching

    • Wildlife Photography
    • Landscape photography
    • Conservation Science
    • Biodiversity
    • animal behaviour

    Courses taught

    • Marine and Natural History Photography BA(Hons)

    Business Engagement

    Intellectual property

    I own the rights to all of my Film and Photographic output.

    Business start ups

    Feargus Cooney Photography

    Related courses

    Course
    Course

    Marine & Natural History Photography BA(Hons)

    Harness your passion for photography and filmmaking to inspire audiences about nature and the environment. On this forward-thinking course, you’ll...

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