biology

Lynn Dicks

Lynn Dicks is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lynn Dicks rather than just read about it. In short: Lynn Dicks is a conservation scientist and ecologist in the UK. She is a Professor of Ecology at the University of Cambridge, Honorary Reader at the University of East Anglia, and an expert in sustainable farming and insect conservation.

Key takeaways

Lynn Dicks belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lynn Dicks to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lynn Dicks from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lynn Dicks is a conservation scientist and ecologist in the UK. She is a Professor of Ecology at the University of Cambridge, Honorary Reader at the University of East Anglia, and an expert in sustainable farming and insect conservation.

Education and career Dicks was educated at Great Yarmouth High School and won a scholarship to Norwich High School for Girls for sixth form. She studied at New College, Oxford, and was awarded a first class degree in Biological Sciences in 1995. She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a PhD in the community ecology of flower-visiting insects in 2002. She worked as a science writer before returning to academia as a postdoctoral researcher and then NERC research fellow at the University of Cambridge. Dicks moved to the University of East Anglia in 2016 as a research fellow and in 2019 was appointed a Reader in the School of Biological Sciences. In 2019 she moved back to Cambridge as a Lecturer in Animal Ecology and NERC Independent Research Fellow and is a visiting lecturer at UEA. In 2020, she became a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. In 2023 Dicks was appointed Board Member to non-departmental public body Natural England. In June 2023 she was promoted to Professor of Ecology within the University of Cambridge.

Research Dicks' research focuses on insect conservation, agricultural ecology, agricultural policy and the food and farming industry. She supports evidence based practice and policy for sustainable agricultural management and conservation interventions. Dicks' research has shown a need for redundancy in natural ecosystems, that is a need for extra resources and species to create longterm resilience. She collaborates internationally, and was a 'Coordinating Lead Author' for the international assessment of pollinating animals in conjunction with the IPBES in 2016. Dicks has highlighted the importance of insect pollinators for food crops such as chocolate and coffee and supported the 2013 EU moratorium and subsequent ban on neonicotinoid insecticides. Dicks has also researched the importance of vertebrate pollinators such as birds and bats and has been involved in horizon scanning to find future threats to pollinators such as agricultural expansions, use of agrochemicals and emerging disease. Her research has shown a lack of awareness of how pollinator decline could affect food supply chains. As well as pollinating insects, Dicks also promotes the important of insects for biological control and decomposition

Awards In 1999, Dicks won the Daily Telegraph Young Science Writer of the Year Award. Dicks was awarded the John Spedan Lewis Medal in 2017 for making a significant and innovative contribution to conservation. In 2018 Dicks was awarded the DEFRA Bees' Needs Champion Award for raising public awareness of the needs of pollinators. In 2022 Dicks was awarded the British Ecological Society's Ecological Engagement Award which recognises an ecologist who has bridged the gap between ecology and other groups.

References

External links University of East Anglia Profile University of Cambridge profile

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lynn Dicks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lynn Dicks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lynn Dicks before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lynn Dicks ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lynn Dicks

In research: Lynn Dicks appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lynn Dicks in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lynn Dicks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century British scientists, 21st-century British women biologists, Academics of the University of East Anglia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lynn Dicks outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Lynn Dicks in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lynn Dicks means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lynn Dicks out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lynn Dicks in simple terms?

Why does Lynn Dicks matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lynn Dicks?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lynn Dicks.