Philias and phobias

Whether different aspects of Anthropocene change are considered good or bad depends as much on cultural values and flexibility as on any physical and biological realities.

What are the circumstances under which humans fear, repel or embrace the changing biological world?

This programme evaluates why some individuals, organisations and societies apparently value biodiversity gains, but others respond with disdain. What psychological, historical and cultural processes lead to this spectrum of attitudes and responses to novelty, and how do negative or positive attitudes then affect the prospects for biodiversity?

Areas of interest

Attitudes to novelty, examining the circumstances under which novel species and genetic forms are regarded as objects of desire or shunned.
Idealised ecosystems, investigating how and why perceptions of landscape and ecosystem beauty vary from landscape taming and improvement, through to restoration and rewilding.
Attitudes into action, in which we analyse how human attitudes and ideals translate into cultural practices and policies, and whether these practices then give rise to increases or declines in biodiversity.

News and views

Yuck?: Historical Approaches to Unwanted Non-Human Life Workshop

Earlier this month, postgraduate researchers from the University of York and Northumbria University came together to organise a Northern Environmental History Network workshop.

Women and lichenology in the early twentieth century

Meg Burgess explores the importance of comradeship to female scientists working in early twentieth century lichenology.