Integrating past and present ecologies, and traditional knowledge for effective biodiversity management into the future (IPPET) - UKRI Future Leader Fellowship (2024 – 2028).

The project aims to integrate local/Indigenous perspectives, past and present ecological methods to develop robust palaeoecological baseline to inform wetland conservation and management framework in sites in the UK, Channel Island, Canada, Australia and Africa. This will involve working closely with Indigenous and non-Indigenous land managers to tailor palaeoecological researh to specific on-ground needs. Click here for more details on the project.

Towards understanding long-term ecological changes in Gashaka-Gumpti National Park for effective biodiversity conservation and management-Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA research fund (2024-2025/2026)

Located in eastern Nigeria, Gashaka-Gumti National Park is a Sudano-Guinean transition zone that forms part of the broader ecotonal region marking the tropical forest–desert transition in Africa. It is the largest forest reserve in Nigeria and hosts several of Africa’s endemic and endangered plant and animal species, including African elephants. Anthropogenic activities especially illegal logging, poses significant threats to wildlife and their habitats (vegetation) within the park, increasing the risk of irreversible biodiversity loss in the near future. This project aims to develop robust paleoecological baseline data for Gashaka-Gumti National Park, which will serve as a foundation for long-term engagement with park managers to integrate long-term ecological data into park management and conservation frameworks. 

Fine-scale spatio-temporal palaeoecology baseline development for the Great Fen, UK- Isaac Newton Trust Fund (2024 – 2025)

The majority of peatlands in the UK have been lost to human impact, and the Great Fen is one of the largest areas of peatland left in the region following drainage in the 18th century, with a rich cultural history. There are ongoing efforts to preserve remaining intact peatlands and restore/rewild degraded ones. In collaboration with the Wildlife Trust BCN to contribute to informing on-going management efforts, this project aims to use a multi-proxy palaeoecological approach to improve our understanding of long-term spatio-temporal ecological dynamics in the fens, carbon storage, and the different roles of human land use and climate in shaping the fen’s development over past millennia.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene climate-human-landscape interactions in Tasmania, Australia- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (on-going)

Tasmania is the temperate region first colonised by humans in the Southern Hemisphere and home to some of the world’s largest areas of ancient rainforests of Gondwanan origin and some other key ecosystems, including Ramsar wetlands for migratory birds. To contribute to informing ongoing efforts to manage/preserve the region’s landscape and cultural land management, the project is looking to understand the different roles of Aboriginal land use and climate on the Tasmanian landscape, how Aboriginal people interacted with landscapes when they first arrived in Tasmania over 40,000 years ago, as well as the impact of British invasion on landscapes.