Projects Alt
Available Projects
A New Framework for Measuring Uncertainty in Satellite Observations of Climate Change.
This project offers the exciting opportunity to develop fundamental new insight into the certainty of satellite estimates of climate change, with a focus on Earth’s
Assessing the role of geodiversity in conserving biodiversity in agricultural Eurasian grasslands
This project assesses geodiversity-biodiversity relationships and hypothesised drivers, mainly at the Târnava Mare Natura 2000 site, Transylvania (Romania). This landscape of traditionally managed grasslands, including
Biosphere mapping of lead pollution though time
This PhD will create a novel methodology for GIS mapping of the extent of Pb pollution through time in Central Britain, resulting in an important
Confronting the Changing Diversity Patterns of Coral Reefs
Coral reef ecosystems are in a state of change. Increasingly frequent and severe disturbances, and escalation of human interactions, are transforming many tropical coral reefs.
Constraining palaeoceanographic changes in Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC)
Palaeoceanographic studies have often focused on understanding how the North Atlantic Ocean responds to and has driven past changes in the global climate-oceanographic system. In
Country, calypso or carimbó? The role of cultural value shifts in advancing Amazonian deforestation frontiers
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
Deepwater gunk and slimeballs: Diversity and function of benthic microbes in West Greenland lakes
We are looking for a student with interests in Arctic science, microbial ecology and lake ecosystems. Focused on the Kangerlussuaq area of West Greenland, this
Destabilisation of terrestrial ecosystems in the high Arctic by extreme winter warming
The high Arctic is warming at an alarming rate, disrupting soil carbon, nutrient and hydrological cycles. This is resulting in increased soil microbial activity with
Drivers of tropical freshwater biodiversity: a DNA metabarcoding approach
Southeast Asian (SE-Asian) freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly. This is particularly true for Borneo, renowned for its highly diverse and globally important biodiversity. The situation
Drought vulnerability of the date palm and its wild relatives
Understanding the mechanisms and evolution of drought tolerance in plants is crucial to support the development of drought-tolerant crops, assess the vulnerability of wild species
Exploring drivers of rarity in the arable weed flora
Several iconic plant species that used to be common in cropped fields, including corncockle and corn marigold have dramatically decreased in frequency and abundance since
Fishing for parasite genomes: host-parasite co-evolution of an emerging salmonid disease
Climate change may drive the emergence of disease epidemics with severe ecological and economic consequences. Freshwater ecosystems, and their iconic inhabitants such as salmonid fish,
Functional role of uncharted coral reef habitats in the Anthropocene
Tropical reef-building corals are vulnerable to breakage by waves and some corals also asexually reproduce via fragmentation. Early descriptions of coral reefs noted the ability
Herbivore-Plant-Soil microbe interactions: who is helping whom
Globally, 20-40% of crops are lost to insects, pathogens and weeds. Novel solutions to combat these biotic threats and protect crop health are urgently required,
How do birds contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms?
The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance genes (AMR) amongst pathogenic microorganisms is one of the greatest health issues of this century. Over-use of antibiotics
Impact of warm salty Indian Ocean water leakage into the South Atlantic on the Benguela Upwelling ecosystem over the last 40 years
The Benguela upwelling system supports fisheries that are key marine resources of the developing nations of South Africa and Namibia. Benguela fisheries yield has experienced
Loktak Lake, India: Assessing the impacts of aquaculture and pesticide use in a protected tropical wetland
Loktak Lake, located in Manipur, is the largest freshwater lake in NE India, declared a Ramsar site in 1990. It is divided into three main
Multi-scale modelling of invasive mosquito disease vector establishment in the UK under future climate change scenarios
Aedes albopictus, a highly invasive mosquito species and important transmission vector of dengue, zika, yellow fever, dirofilaria and chikungunya, has spread rapidly from Asia and
Net zero, land use and climate change: what are the ecosystem consequences?
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
Rare, extreme rainfall events dominate nitrous oxide emissions from hyper arid deserts (AtacamaN20)
The Atacama Desert is the oldest and driest desert on earth. It is also one of the most hostile environments for microbial life on Earth
Seeing into the subsurface – next generation geophysical imaging for environmental and engineering hazard monitoring
Are you looking to transfer your experience of computational methods to tackling some important Earth science problems? We are interested in imaging the shallow subsurface
Stalagmite capture of groundwater nitrogen
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
The ecological and evolutionary significance of functional variation in mitochondria in a wild animal
In this multidisciplinary, international project you will address novel and exciting questions about the ecological and evolutionary consequences of mitochondrial variation in wild animals. You
The evolution of mimicry in a changing world: how shifting bumblebee communities affect selection on a colour-polymorphic hoverfly
Complex species interactions make the impacts of global environmental change difficult to foresee. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary relationships between species, and the way that
The impact of ozone and climate change on floral VOC signalling in beans, with a focus on subsistence agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
Bean yields are significantly affected by pollinator visitation, a visitation which can be heavily influenced by the release of floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Ozone
The mysterious microbial ecosystem beneath our feet: Unravelling groundwater microbiology
Groundwater constitutes 99% of accessible freshwater on the planet and is a vital resource for public water supply in the UK. It contains a little-studied
The War-torn Woodlands of Britain: Reconstructing the ecological impacts of historical disturbance
We seek a numerate, enthusiastic student with a passion for understanding how woodland habitats have been shaped by human activity past and present. The proposed
UK air pollution futures and their health impacts
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.
Understanding and monitoring insect pest dispersal within a changing environment
This exciting PhD project will work at the cutting edge of mathematical and statistical sciences to deliver automatic insect pest detection. Whilst the focus is
Understanding how habitat quality, insect abundance and aquatic subsidies impact population change in a rapidly declining bird
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
Understanding responses of coastal seabirds to local and daily-scale meteorological variation
Weather patterns are changing across the globe, and these changes may affect populations of animals. For coastal seabirds, it seems likely that associated changes in
Unhappy Bedfellows? Interactions between the invasive species Sargassum muticum and Threatened seagrass beds (Zostera spp).
Successful invasive species often escape top-down pressure in the early stages of invasion. However, emerging evidence suggests that over time local animal consumers can adapt
Urban greenspace – what attributes determine wellbeing?
Stress is ubiquitous in UK society (85% of which is urban). However, access to green space is correlated with better quality of life, and can
Using ecological theory and data to evaluate and improve industry’s measurement of Biodiversity Net Gain
Growing awareness of the rapid rate of biodiversity loss, and the ultimate impacts on human wellbeing, has resulted in increasing policy commitments that infrastructure development