Biodiversity Futures Summer School
This short course explores emerging technologies, career pathways, and real-world applications addressing the biodiversity crisis through lectures, practicals, and practitioner seminars.
Through lectures, practical and practitioner seminars, this short course introduces emerging methods and career pathways tackling the biodiversity crisis, exploring how ecology is being reshaped by next-generation technologies and exposing participants to real-world applications.
Course content
Ecological careers are being transformed by sensors, remote technologies, mapping, DNA-based tools and artificial intelligence.
This course introduces these emerging methodologies to students who are interested in ecology careers in research, industry, or the charity or public sectors. Teaching comprises workshops and practical sessions delivered by academics from UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, complemented by career-focused seminars by practitioners with insight into the diverse pathways evolving in this field. The course is designed to highlight how methodological innovation is being used discipline-wide to address the biodiversity crisis.
Who the course is for
Participants should be currently undertaking on or have completed an undergraduate degree in an environmental sciences discipline e.g. biology, geography or similar. Alternatively, we welcome applications from those working in a relevant field who wish to further develop their existing knowledge base. The course will support participants to understand both the diversity of career pathways available in ecology and the tools that underline them in this rapidly-developing field. Informal enquiries about eligibility are welcome and should be directed to . Ellouise.Leadbeater@ucl.ac.uk
Where the course is based
Teaching is led by staff from UCL’s Center for Biodiversity and Environment Research, and is based at the UCL People and Nature Lab at the UCL East Campus. The People and Nature lab’s remit is to integrate ecological science, technology and society to create evidence-based real-world solutions that restore biodiversity and enhance human wellbeing in a changing environment. UCL East sits within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park- widely regarded as a flagship example of blue/green infrastructure and ecological restoration in a post-industrial landscape- and teaching will draw on this exceptional living lab.
Logistics
The course will run full-time in-person from 14th to 18th September 2026 inclusive. The course fee is £200, which includes all teaching and learning materials but not accommodation or catering. Students are expected to bring a laptop, and dress appropriately for the weather for outdoor practical sessions within the Olympic Park.
The following site may be useful for finding accommodation: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/study/accommodation/alternative-accommodation-students.
Application
To apply, please email a CV and a short statement of motivation explaining why you would benefit from taking this course (1 paragraph) to Professor Elli Leadbeater (Ellouise.leadbeater@ucl.ac.uk).
Please see “who the course is for” above for eligibility.