Environmental Change and Biodiversity
UCL Geography’s Environmental Change and Biodiversity cluster studies ecosystems under anthropogenic and climate pressures, guiding conservation, restoration, and sustainable management worldwide.
With over 30 years of expertise in ecology and palaeoecology, our research reveals how ecosystems respond to human pressures and environmental change - shaping effective strategies for conservation and restoration.
Investigating responses of freshwater and marine ecosystems to stressors like eutrophication, acidification, pollution, alien species invasions and climate change, and ecosystem recovery under restoration and management.
Researchers: Jan Axmacher, Helen Bennion, Helene Burningham, Jon French, Lucy Roberts, Jorge Salgado, Carl Sayer, Julian Thompson, David Thornalley, Simon Turner, Handong Yang.
Using the biological and geochemical information contained within lake and pond sediment records to understand the timescales, nature, magnitude and rate of ecosystem change over 10s to 100s of years, and to guide and benchmark recovery.
Researchers: Helen Bennion, Julie Brown, Jonathan Holmes, Ian Patmore, Lucy Roberts, Jorge Salgado, Carl Sayer, Handong Yang.
Studying species richness and distribution patterns in agricultural and forested landscapes of temperate and tropical regions under changing environmental, legislative and socio-economic conditions.
Researchers: Jan Axmacher, Mat Disney, Joshua Elves-Powell, Simon Lewis, Thais Morcatty.
Informing direct conservation and restoration action through engagement with statutory conservation agencies, NGOs and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Delivering practical impact through the UCL Pond Restoration Group, the UCL Environmental Radiometric Facility and the Bloomsbury Environmental Isotope Facility
Researchers: Jan Axmacher, Julie Brown, Ian Patmore, Carl Sayer, Handong Yang
Cluster Leads
Helen is Professor of Environmental Change at UCL, specialising in aquatic ecology and palaeoecology. Her research uses lake sediment records to study human impacts, environmental change and restoration targets. Since joining UCL in 1985, she has advanced through multiple research and teaching roles, contributing extensively to the Environmental Change Research Centre. She was Chair of the International Paleolimnology Association from 2018-2025 and has published widely.
Carl Sayer is Professor of Geography at UCL and leads the Pond Restoration Research Group. His research focuses on freshwater conservation and restoration, with over 130 publications across ponds, lakes, rivers and wetlands. A co-founder of the Norfolk Ponds Project and River Glaven Conservation Group, he advises government and NGOs on freshwater policy. Carl regularly contributes to media, delivers talks and training, and in 2022 received the Sydney Long Memorial Medal for Nature Conservation.
30+ 30+ years of pioneering environmental change research at UCL.
Study BSc Geography at UCL
Explore ecosystems, biodiversity, and environmental change with UCL researchers shaping conservation and restoration worldwide.
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