Helen Bennion

I’m a Professor in Environmental Change, having first come to UCL in 1985 to study Geography. My research and teaching centre on aquatic ecology and palaeoecology. I am interested in the impacts of anthropogenic pressures on lakes over a range of time scales and employ lake sediment records to assess environmental change, reference conditions and restoration targets. The desire to contribute to the management of the aquatic environment underpins all of my research.

More about Professor Bennion

I first came to UCL in 1985 to study for a BA in Geography and went on to work under the supervision of Professor Rick Battarbee to gain a PhD in 1993, which examined sediment records of eutrophic ponds in southeast England. I was awarded a post-doctoral Royal Society Research Fellowship and spent a year at the Institute of Limnology, Mondsee in Austria.

I returned to the Department of Geography at UCL in 1995 to take up a post as Research Fellow with the Environmental Change Research Centre (ECRC) and the affiliated environmental consultancy, ENSIS Ltd, to lead the lowland waters research programme and was promoted to Senior Research Fellow in 2001, then to Principal Research Associate in 2009, to Reader in Environmental Change in 2011, and most recently to Professor in Environmental Change in 2017.  I have been actively involved in postgraduate teaching since 1996 and undergraduate teaching since 2005.

I am currently the Departmental International and Affiliate Tutor.  I have been an Associate Editor for the Journal of Paleolimnology since 2017 and the Chair of the International Paleolimnology Association since 2018.    

Teaching

I teach on the following modules:

Undergraduate:

• Geography in the Field (GEOG0013, convenor)
• Managing freshwaters in the 21st century (GEOG0038, convenor)
• Dissertation (GEOG0037 convenor)
• Unit One Dissertation (GEOG0033)
• Thinking Geographically 1 (GEOG0151)
• Thinking Geographically 2 (GEOG0012)
• The Practice of Geography (GEOG0016)
• Independent Study (GEOG0042)
• Study Abroad Year Dissertation Report (GEOG0068)

Postgraduate:

• Lakes (GEOG0096, module convenor)
• Research Project and Dissertation (GEOG0105)

Publications

 

To view Professor Bennion's publications, please visit UCL Profiles:

Publications

Research Interests

My research interests are in aquatic ecology and palaeoecology, specialising in the environmental impacts of nutrient pollution and climate change on lowland lakes. My primary focus is on understanding the causes, timing and magnitude of ecological change in order to better manage these ecosystems in the future.

I am internationally recognised for pioneering the development of diatom models for assessing lake eutrophication, the integration of multiple indicators approaches for understanding changes in lake ecosystems over decadal to centennial timescales, devising innovative methods for assessing lake reference conditions, restoration targets and recovery rates, and employing the sediment record for understanding climate-nutrient interactions.

Impact

The desire to contribute to the management of the aquatic environment underpins all of my research. I have worked closely with government and conservation agencies to define ecological and chemical reference conditions for lakes in Europe and in China. I was centrally involved in advising the Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales (now Natural Resources Wales) and Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) on reference conditions for UK lakes including development of an ecological classification tool using diatoms (DARLEQ). This was facilitated by my invited membership of the UK Lakes Task Team (2005-2009) and provided the evidence base to inform UK Government response to the EU Water Framework Directive. I co-edited a special issue of Journal of Paleolimnology (vol 45, 2011) on "Reference states and lake restoration". 

From 2005-2018 I was a director of ENSIS Ltd, an environmental consultancy within the Geography Department dedicated to supporting the research of the Environmental Change Research Centre. On behalf of ENSIS Ltd, I co-ordinated applied work on lowland and shallow lake systems. My applied diatom work has helped to inform management of over 100 lakes suffering from nutrient enrichment. I was an invited guest on BBC Radio 4s Material World programme in Sept 2005 to speak about diatoms as indicators of environmental change. I have given talks to local interest groups (e.g. Morvern Historical Society) and regularly present my research outputs at meetings attended by a range of stakeholders (e.g. Llangorse Lake and Llyn Tegid symposia and the Loweswater Care Project).

I have supervised several PhD students who have worked with CASE partners to deliver projects with real impact:

Isabel Bishop (2011-2018) worked with Scottish Natural Heritage to better understand the conservation needs of the rare aquatic plant Najas flexilis, the slender naiad. Her findings and recommendations were incorporated into a major review of the habitat requirements of this increasingly threatened species and the outputs are being used to identify and prioritise actions for the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the Scottish Biodiversity Routemap and the European Habitats Directive.

Emily Smith (2014-2019) worked with the Angling Trust to explore the role of angling as a pathway by which invasive aquatic species are brought to the UK. The findings from the PhD have been used to inform invasive non-native species (INNS) policy, in particular the development of an Angling Pathway Action Plan for Great Britain, improved communication of the ‘Check, Clean, Dry (CCD)’ campaign and to encourage the adoption of CCD in Western Europe. Emily also gave oral evidence at an Environmental Audit Committee enquiry into INNS in July 2019, using her PhD findings and work with the Angling Trust to articulate the environmental and economic threats of INNS and the importance of biosecurity in reducing the risk of INNS spread.

Richard Walton's PhD (2015-2019) on the impacts of pond terrestrialisation on macrophyte assemblages and pollinators led to a publication in Biology Letters revealing that moths transport pollen from a wide variety of native and cultivated plants. This crucial information has been incorporated into the conservation advice in The State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2021 report, published by Butterfly Conservation (reference below), demonstrating how Richard's work has emphasised the need for moth conservation. Additionally Richard was part of an expert group whose work and advice has been included in a recent EU policy proposal for a pollinator scheme EU Policy Proposal.  [See Walton RE, et al. (2020) Nocturnal pollinators strongly contribute to pollen transport of wild flowers in an agricultural landscape. Biology Letters 16, 20190877. Full reference to the report is Fox R. et al. (2021) The State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2021. Butterfly Conservation, Rothamsted Research and UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wareham, Dorset, UK].

Research Students

Current PhD research students

• Helen Greaves (2011-) Assessing the value of pond management for biodiversity conservation.
• Lucia Lencioni (2014-) Recent responses of freshwater Scottish lochs to changes in nutrient loading and climate.
• Olly van Biervliet (2018-) The effects of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) on hydrology and nutrient dynamics at variable spatial scales.
• Amy Walsh (2018-) Understanding lake ecosystem responses to natural and human stressors through the Holocene: a palaeolimnological approach.
• Tahir Khanzada (2020-) Paleoecological approach to assist conservation at the catchment scale.
• Efte Eftesum (2020-) Inferring agricultural impacts on aquatic biodiversity in farmland ponds and ecological recovery following restoration.
• Aspen Watts (2022-) Disentangling the drivers of Insect Armageddon: determining the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on midge diversity in the UK. Mark James Studentship based in Geography Department, Birkbeck University.
• Ben Siggery (2022-) Conservation palaeoecology: connecting current conservation thinking with palaeoecological research. University of Surrey/Surrey Wildlife Trust.
• Shajeda Khanom (2023-) Changing environmental condition in Signy Island and McMurdo Dry Valleys and its impact on diatoms in lake microbial mats. London NERC DTP.

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Past PhD research students

• Nicola Hughes (1998-2001), Benthic diatoms in lowland lakes. PhD awarded. Nicola now works in quality assurance and is currently QA manager in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge, UK). 
• Tom Davidson (2001-2005), Ecological assessment of shallow lakes using contemporary and palaeoecological methods. PhD awarded. Tom is currently a Senior scientist at the Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University in Denmark.
• Xuhui Dong (2006-2010) Using diatoms to understand climate-nutrient interactions in Esthwaite Water, England: evidence from observational and palaeolimnological records. PhD awarded. Xuhui is now Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, China.
• Emma Wiik (2008-2012) Understanding the ecological response of marl lakes to enrichment: a combined limnological and palaeolimnological approach. PhD awarded. Emma is currently a Climate change risk and adaptation advisor at Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru / Natural Resources Wales.
• David Emson (2006-2014), Palaeoecological studies in ponds to explore past Lemna abundances and consequences for pond food-web. PhD awarded.
• Isabel Bishop (2011-2018), Assessing the changing status of slender naiad (Najas flexilis) in Scottish mesotrophic lochs using the sediment record: implications for conservation. PhD awarded. Isabel is now Lecturer (Teaching) in Ecology Genetics, Evolution & Environment in the Division of Biosciences, UCL.
• Stephen Prentice (2013-2018), Tracking eutrophication in UK lakes: the potential of testate amoebae, based at the School of Geography, Archaeology & Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast. PhD awarded. Stephen is now Higher Scientific Officer (Freshwater Ecology - Lakes) at the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, UK.
• Emily Smith (2014-2019) Conduits of invasive aquatic species to the UK: the angling route? PhD awarded. Emily is now Environmental Manager at the Angling Trust, UK.
• Richard Walton (2015-2019) Impacts of pond terrestrialisation on macrophyte assemblages and pollinators. PhD awarded. Richard is now a Research Associate in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University, UK.

Research Grants, Prizes and Awards

I have sustained my research through major grants including NERC, EU and the Royal Society. I have also led a large number of consultancy projects, funded by national agencies such as the Environment Agency and Natural England. I have successfully collaborated with other world-renowned scientists in Europe, China and South America.

Research Grants

• 2023-2026: NERC (Pushing the Frontiers of Environmental Science Research) Recovery pathways for lake ecosystems. Co-I. Pete Langdon (PI). External.
• 2021-2022: UCL Centre for Critical Heritage Studies (CCHS) in collaboration with the National Trust Small Grant Award ‘Lakes, lives and landscapes: diverse histories of people and their standing waters’. PI. Internal.
• 2015-2019: NERC (Highlight Topic) Hydroscape: Connectivity x stressor interaction in freshwater habitats NE/N005953/1. Co-I. Nigel Willby (PI). External.
• 2015-2016: Knowledge Exchange Champions Award, Higher Education Innovation Fund, UCL Aquatic Restoration Partnership. PI. Internal.
• 2015-2016:  Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Forestry Commission A palaeoecological study of environmental change at Loch Shin. PI. External.
• 2014-2017: Scottish Natural Heritage and UCL BEAMS Impact Award Recent responses of freshwater Scottish lochs to changes in nutrient loading and climate. PI. External and internal.
• 2014:  NERC Radiocarbon Analysis Award Drivers of ecological and geochemical change in a small eutrophic marl lake, Cunswick Tarn. PI. External.
• 2014-2016:  NERC BESS Dispersal and biodiversity impacts on community assembly and ecosystem services in shallow lake landscapes. Co-I. Carl Sayer (PI). External.
• 2013:  NERC Radiocarbon Analysis Award Drivers of ecological and geochemical change in a small eutrophic marl lake, Cunswick Tarn. PI. External.
• 2012-2015: Norwegian Research Council to UCL Reference conditions for phosphorus runoff from forested areas with arable soil properties. PI. External.
• 2011-2015:  NERC Assessing the value of pond management for biodiversity conservation. PI. External.
• 2011-2014:  Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and UCL BEAMS Impact Award Assessing the changing status of Najas flexilis in Scottish mesotrophic lochs using the sediment record: implications for conservation. PI. External and internal.
• 2010-2014:  EU REFRESH-Adaptive strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on European freshwater ecosystem. Co-I. Martin Kernan (PI). External.
• 2010-2011:  NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities Understanding the ecological response of marl lakes to enrichment: a combined limnological and palaeolimnological approach. PI. External.
• 2009-2012:  EU WISER-Water bodies in Europe: Integrative Systems to assess Ecological status and Recovery. Co-I. Daniel Hering (PI). External.
• 2009-2011:  Environment Agency Development of the diatom classification tool (DARLEQ) for lakes and rivers. Co-I. Martyn Kelly (PI). External.
• 2009-2010:  ESRC Linking historical land use changes with palaeolimnological records of nutrient changes in Loweswater. Co-I. Claire Waterton (PI). External.
• 2008-2012: NERC Understanding the ecological response of marl lakes to enrichment: a combined limnological and palaeolimnological approach. PI. External.
• 2008-2009:  NERC Radiocarbon Facility Using diatoms to understand climate-nutrient interactions in Esthwaite Water: evidence from observational and palaeolimnological records. PI. External.
• 2007-2009: Natural England Using novel palaeoecological techniques to define lake conservation objectives. PI. External.2006-2007:  Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) for impacted mesotrophic lochs - palaeocological approaches. PI. External.
• 2004-2009:  EU Eurolimpacs- Integrated Project to Evaluate the Impacts of Global Change on European Freshwater Ecosystems. Co-I. Rick Battarbee & Martin Kernan (PIs). External.
• 2004-2006: The Royal Society Palaeolimnology and shallow lake ecosystem restoration in China. Co-I. Rick Battarbee (PI). External.
• 2004-2005:  ESRC, BBSRC & NERC Achieving Sustainable Catchment Management: Developing integrated approaches and tools to inform future policies. Co-I. Clive Spash (PI). External.
• 2002-2004:  Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research  Identification of reference lakes and evaluation of palaeoecological approaches to define reference conditions for UK (England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland) ecotypes. PI. External.
• 2000-2001:  NERC Assessing the value of plant macrofossil records in shallow lakes. PI. External.
• 1999-2000: NERC Development of a transfer function between lake anoxic factor and sedimentary chironomid sub-fossil species abundance (1999-2000). Co-I. Brian Rippey at University of Ulster (PI). External.
• 1998-2001:  EU EDDI-European Diatom Database (EDDI). PI jointly with Rick Battarbee. External.
• 1998-2001: The Royal Society Environmental change and atmospheric contamination across China as indicated by lake sediments.  Co-I. Neil Rose (PI), University of Liverpool and the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics in Wuhan, China (Co-Is). External.
• 1997-2000:  Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research Palaeolimnological investigation of Scottish freshwater lochs. PI. External.
• 1996-1999:  EU BIOMASS-Biodiversity of Microorganisms in Aquatic Systems. Co-I. Serge Neunlist, University of Mulhouse (PI). External.
• 1994-1995:  The British Council The Development of a Northwest European Diatom-phosphorus Transfer Function. PI. John Anderson (Danish Geological Survey, Copenhagen), and Steve Juggins (University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Co-Is). External.
• 1991-1994: The Royal Society The Eutrophication of Lakes in Hubei Province, Central China (1991-1994). Co-I. Rick Battarbee (PI), University of Liverpool and the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics in Wuhan, China (Co-Is). External.

Prizes, Awards and Other Honours

• 2019: UCL Provost Education Award for Team Teaching 
• 2018: Elected Chair of the International Paleolimnology Association.
• 2012-2018: Invited Honorary Treasurer of the International Paleolimnology Association.
• 1988: Rosa Morrison Faculty of Arts & Humanities Prize, University College London.
• 1987: H.C. Darby Prize in Geography, University College London.