Profile

Biography

With a background in conservation science, I have over 10 years of expertise in understanding the costs and benefits of biodiversity conservation, and accounting for biodiversity and natural capital impacts. I completed my PhD - Integrating costs and processes into systematic conservation planning in a biodiversity hotspot - in the zoology department at the University of Cambridge, following which I spent two years at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton USA. Here I ran a project that investigated the ecological impacts of land conversion for shorebirds alongside the economic impacts for local saltpan and aquaculture managers. I then returned to Cambridge, where I worked in the geography department on corporate engagement with Natural Capital, working closely with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Since 2016, I have held a Luc Hoffmann Institute Fellowship, working within the Sustainable Consumption and Production group at SEI York, to trace the impacts of agricultural commodity consumption on biodiversity.

Key skills

systematic conservation planning, land use change modelling, environmental economics, corporate engagement and geographic information systems (GIS)

Career

• 2003 to 2007: BSc(Hons), Zoology, University of St Andrews
• 2008 to 2012: PhD, Dept. of Zoology, University of Cambridge
• 2012: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
• 2012 to 2014: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy, Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University
• 2014 to 2016: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Geography and Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge
• 2016 to present: Luc Hoffmann Research Fellow, SEI York

Departmental roles

• SEI Environmental coordinator - I work with SEI colleagues internationally to improve sustainability performance within the institute.

Research

Overview

I work within the Sustainable Consumption and Production group to trace the impacts of consumption on biodiversity, via often-complex chains of trade in agricultural commodities. Gaining insight into how trade in agricultural commodities drives biodiversity loss and the key actors in those supply chains is a starting point to identify opportunities for improved supply chain management to help avert future losses of habitat and species. I am a Luc Hoffmann Institute Fellow and collaborate closely with WWF-UK.

Projects

• Trase

Trase is a supply chain transparency initiative that seeks to transform our understanding of how companies, governments and other actors involved in the trade of agricultural commodities are linked to impacts and opportunities for more sustainable production – and to place this understanding in the hands of those who can make a difference.

• Contacted - Managing biodiversity risks in global supply chains

This project involves modelling the impacts of land use change on habitats and species and linking these to local agricultural production systems and consumption activities through trade models. Contacted incorporates the values and perspectives of diverse stakeholders on how threats are perceived, experienced, and managed in order to stimulate innovation for sustainability. Key research institutions work closely with WWF offices to test how these approaches can be integrated as a decision-support tool in conservation and business practice.

• Indicators for socially-responsible consumption and production

This project, supported by N8 AgriFood pump priming funds, reviews the landscape of social impact/risk indicators applicable to agricultural production-to-consumption analyses. I work with colleagues from different disciplines, both within the SCP group and from across the N8 Universities, to identify key areas to improve social-impact assessment in consumption-based accounting.

Research group(s)

Sustainable Consumption and Production

Available PhD research projects

If you are interested in applying for a PhD that aligns with any of my research interests, please get in touch with a project idea. I am particularly interested in interdisciplinary and applied research to understand and mitigate trade-linked drivers of biodiversity declines.

Supervision

I am happy to supervise dissertations for current Environment Department Masters students. Please contact me to discuss opportunities.