Emma Cary
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity
Cultural understandings of biodiversity
Biography
I work across environmental social science, geography and policy with a focus on how knowledge is produced and used in environmental decision-making processes.
Prior to joining LCAB, I worked with a team at Sheffield Hallam University on the Nature Recovery Farming: Supporting the Transition project. I previously held a Parliamentary Fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of
Science and Technology, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. I obtained my doctorate in Geography at the University of Aberdeen. I also hold an MSc in Conservation Biology (DICE, University of Kent) and a MA(Hons) in Social Anthropology (University of Edinburgh).
Research
My research at LCAB investigates plural knowledge systems to build a holistic understanding of how biodiversity changes are known. Using York and North Yorkshire as study sites, this research explores cultural understandings of biodiversity in a UK context to reveal how communities interpret and experience environmental change.
More broadly, my research examines the societal and political dimensions of biodiversity decision-making. I am interested in how place-based and cultural values of nature are represented within environmental governance, including under policy frameworks. This includes exploring visions of environmental futures and the types of knowledge and values which are included and excluded. As a conservation social science expert I have contributed to a UK Parliamentary briefing on Evidence for Nature Recovery, emphasising the importance of integrating diverse knowledge systems to realise UK nature recovery ambition. I am a full member of the
Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) and enjoy working with practitioners whose insights enhance how I think about my research.
Publication Highlights
Wartmann, F.M & Cary, E., (2026) Digital nature in the AI era: how human and AI-generated representations shape future visions of rewilding, People and Nature 8(4):919-934
Cary, E,. Jones, K., Thomas, V., Brieghel, S., Payo Payo, A., & Wartmann, F.M (2025). Five questions we should ask of rewilding projects - and that social science can help us answer, People and Nature, 7(9), 2119-2135
Wartmann, FM. & Cary, E., (2025), ‘Integrating people and place into nature recovery policy: The importance of cultural values and lived places for Biodiversity Net Gain’, The British Academy,
Glentworth, J., Cary, E., Gilchrist, A., & Thornhill, I., (2025), Can we learn from the UK’s Guerilla rewilding movement?, Oryx,
Cary, E., & Wartmann, F. M. (2025). Rewilding in the British policy landscape. A qualitative analysis of policy documents related to rewilding. Scottish Geographical Journal, 141(1–2),