Sustainability

The Faculty of Life Sciences is committed to putting people and the planet first - in how we work and live, in how we teach and in our research. We are passionate about sustainability and sharing our expertise with broader audiences for genuine impact.

Research

Consequences of Biodiversity Loss

What are the consequences of biodiversity loss and change for people’s wellbeing? Working across the full chain of interacting effects of environmental change from biological processes and functions, to impacts on people, how can we better monitor, predict and mitigate the more deleterious consequences of biodiversity loss and change?

We aim to develop useful approaches and tools that can be applied in different environments in the UK and overseas.

Environmental Change and Biodiversity

We aim to develop useful approaches and tools that can be applied in different environments in the UK and overseas.

Limits to Adaptive Change

What limits the rate of biological adjustment and/or adaptation to a changing environment? Adaptation can be achieved by behavioural responses, phenotypic plasticity, dispersal or evolution. But each of these mechanisms has different costs and benefits for species and population persistence.

How can we evaluate the limits in different kinds of species and across habitats? What is the evidence from empirical studies and from historical events? We address these questions using studies in the field, laboratory and from theory.