I'm a restoration scientist, lecturer and professional triathlete
My research seeks to understand how to best restore ecosystems using satellite data, ecological and social methods.
I supervise students on topics related to forest ecology, remote sensing and restoration and rewilding.
I teach the module 'Environmental Impact Assessment', co-teach on the module 'Climate change: science, impacts and policy' and give guest lectures on the module 'Nature Based Solutions'.
I particularly enjoy supervising students who want to research applied eoclogical topics, whether it is using fieldwork, conducting interviews or using satellite methods.
I am an ecologist specialized in forest restoration science, functional traits and mountain ecology.
Against the backdrop of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, my primary research interests is investigating how we can best deploy ecological restoration to achieve biodiversity, livelihood and climate goals. I'm interested in effective planning and strategic design of ecosystem restoration, and in ways to include people in restoration through a socio-ecological approach. To this end, I use ecological field method, qualitative social methods and larger scale remote sensing techniques.
My past work has been focused on the Neotropics (Brazil and Peru), mainly on understudied tropical montane ecosystems. My PhD research investigated opportunities and challenges in the restoration of tropical montane forests using an interdisciplinary multi-stakeholder approach.
In this UN Decade on Restoration, I turn my focus to large-scale, practically relevant questions relating to the restoration of various ecosystems in the UK, Europe and the tropics. My research interests are largely of applied nature, aiming to increase the impetus for and the knowledge base to conduct effective restoration. Some key questions I am researching are:
1) Where do priority areas lie that optimize biodiversity goals, livelihoods, carbon sequestration and hydrological ecosystem services?
2) How can ecosystem restoration interventions be designed in tropical montane forests in a way to contribute effectively to biodiversity gain and net zero?
3) What incentives and approaches are most effective in strengthening local people's contribution, ownership and desire to partake in and maintain restoration efforts?
I teach across several modules in environmental science, such as Envrionmental Impact Assessment, Nature Based Solutions and Climate Change.