Understanding past ecosystem dynamics to address contemporary biodiversity issues.
Research Area
My research looks at how vegetation, wetlands, fire, land use and climate have changed and interacted over centuries to millennia by fusing palaeoecological, ecological and historical/ethnographical methods, and how this knowledge can assist in addressing contemporary biodiversity management issues and conservation goals. The ecosystem features I investigate include long-term flora composition and diversity, wetland development and carbon storage, and fire regimes in context of climate change and human land use, ranging from treeless peatlands to rainforests ecosystems in the UK, Africa, Australia and Canada. I pay special attention to local communities' lived experiences in study areas, incorporating their cultural perspectives with palaeo data interpretation to better understand past human-ecosystem/landscape interactions and present-day implications. My current research is strongly motivated by present biodiversity management challenges; therefore, I work closely with land managers/local/indigenous communities to target my research questions to specific management needs or local interests. I currently work closely with the Wildlife Trust BCN, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Wales Woodland Trust, Ghana Wildlife Society, Ghana Wildlife Division, Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority in Ontaria, Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation in the Yukon and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation in Australia.
Project Interests
I am interested in developing an integrative conservation palaeoecology project to inform forest and wetland restoration, management, monitoring and protection in one or more of the following areas: Atlantic rainforest in the UK, boreal forest of Pacific Northwestern America, Upper Guinean Forest of Ghana, Sclerophyllous swamp forest of Bass Strait in Tasmania. Depending on the location of focus, the project may address questions related to centennial – millennial changes in flora composition and diversity, wetland development and dynamics of below-ground carbon storage, wildfire regimes, as well as long-term climate and human impacts.
Potential CASE Collaborations
Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Kintyre Rainforest Alliance, Trʼondëk HwëchʼIn First Nation, Cradle Coast Natural Resource Management, Tasmania.
