Projects
Landscape Scale Conservation in the UK: RSPB Futurescape Project Manager for the Midlands Region (2012-current).
The Futurescapes programme is the RSPB’s contributing to the revolution in landscape-scale conservation that is needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. These challenges include the need to adapted to changing economic circumstances, climate change, biodiversity loss and national and international policy.
At the heart of any successful conservation initiative are the people who make it happen. Forging partnerships, and developing a shared understanding and passion to shape a better future for us and the natural world is the fundamental starting point of our Futurescapes programme.
For more details on the Futurescapes Programme, see the program web page and the publication Futurescapes: Space for Nature, Land for Life.
Designing a Resilience Based Curriculum for Children’s Education (2010-2012).
This project was an opportunity to apply my experience in landscape and environmental management and contrast it with a radically different ecosystem and culture. The project required applying a holistic environmental perspective to the development of a resilience based curriculum. This included living in the community of Yaxunah and strong collaboration and partnership working with the youths and adults in the community, anthropologists, teachers, environmental scientists and ecologists spanning multiple cultures and world views.
The Resilience of European Orchard Systems to Climate Change: Traditional Observations of Managed Ecosystem Dynamics [ 2010 - current ]
Apple orchards can provide records of climate change over long periods of time, i.e. 100s of years, unavailable in most other plants. Apples have been an important part of many cultures and economies since their domestication ca. 7000 yrs ago. An unparalleled record of adaptation to climate change is available through the manager-documented introduction of new varieties as climates changed, either through relocation to new areas with different climates or changes in weather patterns within established orchard areas. This research will accumulate and analyze the long-term climate observations made by hundreds of apple orchard managers in Europe and North America. The manager’s responses to climate change, both historical and anticipated, as implemented through management decisions, will be tracked across time and space using a variety of physical, biological, and social science tools.
Adapting to Climate Change in Mexico [ 2009 - current ]
I have become increasingly concerned about the potential impacts of climate change following consistent failures in the international policy process to deliver reductions in emissions (see the Hartwell paper), and indications from the climate science community that the situation could be much worse than previously thought (see the Oxford climate conference and New et.al 2009).
I am developing research ideas around climate change adaption in Mexico, with a specific focus on the potential impacts on land use and food security. I am in the process of piloting research ideas on resilience and adaptation to climate change, and plan to travel extensively in southern Mexico meeting scientists and practitioners during September and October 2010.
Earth and Life Systems Alliance (ESLA) Study of Land-use Change and Management Responses to Climate Change in the East of England Region [ 2008 - 2011 ]
Three land use scenarios were developed for the Anglian Basin region in England (Organic, Agri-technology and Trend), this including engagement with the John Innes Centre and members of the organic farming community. The scenario analysis was aimed at the year 2030 using a 2004 baseline and an historical analysis of the years 1969 and 1988, based on the comparisons of crop yield, agricultural externalities and land use change.
The Lowland Arable Project (LAP) [ 2008 to 2009 ]
The LAP project developed a framework for the transdisciplinary study of the physical, chemical, biological, socio-economic and institutional components of arable based ecosystems. Emphasis was placed on understanding social-ecological system responses to a changing climate and to shifting land use practices. The project involved a consortium of thirty-one partners from eleven institutions in the writing of a £3.5 million Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) consortium grant application led by Dr. M. Hassall. The title of the application was: “The effects of interactions between climate change and land use on the trade-offs between ecosystem services in arable landscapes”.
Funded by the European Commission and co-ordinated by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK, ADAM (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: supporting European climate policy) is an integrated research project running from 2006 to 2009 that will lead to a better understanding of the trade-offs and conflicts that exist between adaptation and mitigation policies. ADAM will support EU policy development in the next stage of the development of the Kyoto Protocol and will inform the emergence of new adaptation strategies for Europe (see final report)
The Glaven River Catchment [ 2004 to 2009 ]
The Glaven project is the main work I have been doing since 2004. My PhD thesis is based on the 115Km2 River Glaven catchment in North Norfolk, England. The research objective is to assess the benefits, limitations and implications of implementing an integrated approach to natural resource management.
Sense of Place Project [ Sept 2007 to March 2008 ]
The sense of place project is a Tyndall Centre consultancy project commissioned by the Norfolk Coast Partnership and the Norfolk Rural Community Council and due to be completed in March 2008, the central question of this project is:
How to design a web based environmental “sense of place” tool kit to enhance community awareness, understanding and engagement in environmental and landscape issues, and to better manage change.
Biosphere 2 Project [ Jan 1996 to June 2001 ]
Biosphere 2 is a 1.25 hectare glass-enclosed mesocosom located in the Arizona desert, built to simulate the workings of Biosphere 1 (Earth).
