This inter-disciplinary project addresses the intractable problem of how to reduce tropical deforestation. Current strategies such as REDD+ are failing and rooted in assumptions of rational economic decision-making. However, emerging research highlights the socio-cultural roots of environmental problems and solution pathways (e.g. Chan et al. 2020, People & Nature). Understanding people’s environmental values is increasingly […]

The world’s population relies on using nitrogen to boost crop yields and ensure sufficient food production. However, application of nitrogen fertilizer in excess of that taken up by plants and animals causes contamination of soils, surface waters and groundwater reserves. This has major implications for environmental and human health, causing eutrophication of surface water bodies […]

Global declines in migrant bird populations are a major threat to the world’s ecosystems. Migrants provide vital ecosystem services at large spatial scales, and avian population trends are key indicators of environmental change. Understanding and reversing the declines in migrant populations is therefore a conservation priority, but the underlying causes are unclear. While a growing […]

Poor air quality is the number one environmental health threat in the UK, contributing to ~30,000 deaths per year, while also exacerbating several health conditions. Air quality depends on the amount of pollutant emissions and the prevailing weather conditions. This means that we expect it to be different in the future, both due to changes […]

Why this project is important: Ensuring grasslands, which cover 40% of the UK, provide a suite of ecosystem goods and services and store natural capital is critical for societal needs. However, new understanding of grassland ecosystem response to climate and land use change and predictive capabilities are required to promote strategic land-use decisions that support […]