Projects

A New Framework for Measuring Uncertainty in Satellite Observations of Climate Change

This project offers the exciting opportunity to develop fundamental new insight into the certainty of satellite estimates of climate change,…

Abundance within species’ ranges: understanding species’ responses to environmental change

Accelerated climate change and environmental degradation make it necessary to improve our understanding of, and ability to predict, species�…

Adapting to extreme environments: Hybridisation and the evolution of contemporary heavy metal tolerance

Climate change, urbanisation and exploitation of natural resources increasingly alter the environment, posing significant challenges for pla…

Aerodynamic invasions: does the biomechanics of flight affect dispersal and genetic diversity in invasive species?

Invasive species represent one of the most pressing threats to earth’s biodiversity. This ENVISION PhD studentship is an exciting opportun…

Aliens in the twilight zone: using robots to study and manage invasive lionfish on Caribbean mesophotic coral ecosystems

Invasive lionfish threaten native Caribbean marine biodiversity. Lionfish predate unchecked on native fish which, unlike in the lionfish’s…

Angry damsels: do species interactions after overfishing enhance or inhibit coral reef recovery?

Coral reef species are undergoing widespread mortality under increasingly frequent mass coral bleaching events, which will continue until gl…

Arctic sea-ice decline: An opening for more wind energy input to the ocean?

Arctic summers are now characterized by ever-expanding areas of open water exposed by the declining sea ice. This dramatic decline has input…

Artificial skyglow impacts on the chronobiology of marine organisms

The ecological impact of artificial light at night has been a rapidly growing field of global change science in recent years. While understa…

Clean air for all? Air pollution, deprivation and health

Poor outdoor air quality, particularly that associated with high concentrations of very fine particles (PM2.5) has been identified globally …

Delta dynamics: lessons from the Chao Phraya

River deltas occupy about 0.6% of the Earth’s surface area, but contain 4% of the world’s population (about 300,000,000 people). They ar…

Development of robust inhalation simulation procedures for measuring exposure to potentially harmful elements from soil particulates

Human exposure to soil-dust can be climate driven in that airborne particulates can be transported (and deposited great distances from the p…

Diversity and evolution of facultative and constitutive C4 photosynthesis in sedges

Plants have evolved different versions of photosynthesis to maintain efficiency under diverse environmental conditions. While the vast major…

Drinking water ponds in southern Bangladesh: blending traditional and scientific management approaches

We are looking for a student with strong interests in freshwater sciences and complex development problems to work with a large transdiscipl…

Drivers of tropical freshwater biodiversity: a DNA metabarcoding approach

We are looking for a versatile student with a keen interest in tropical freshwater ecology and conservation, and willing to undertake exciti…

Environmental change, monsoon variability and human impact in Southeast Asia

We seek an excellent student to investigate environmental change, monsoon variability, and human impact in a Southeast Asian tropical lake. …

Extreme weather events exacerbate nitrous oxide emissions from soil (Extreme-N2O)

Accurate estimates of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions underpin national land use policy and subsequent targets, e.g. the recent UK tar…

Filling the emissions gap: Investigating the dynamic contribution of soil volatile organic compounds to temperate and tropical forest atmospheres

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) disrupt the chemical equilibrium of the atmosphere causing increased formation of air pollutants and green…

Floral Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) signalling in response to air pollution and climate change

Up to 88% of flowering plant species depend on insect pollinators. Although flowers and their visual cues are known to be important for poll…

Improving UK air quality forecasts during heatwaves

Poor air quality is a major global health concern affecting all industrialised nations and virtually all of society. Worldwide, ~3 million d…

Landslide early warning: developing novel geophysical monitoring approaches to see inside unstable slopes

Slope instability is responsible for considerable social and economic harm. In the UK, impacts are principally economic, through damage and …

Long distance drone tracking of key pollinators in agricultural and natural landscapes

Many plant species, including numerous agricultural ones, depend on pollinator services; yet agricultural intensification and urbanisation h…

Maya collapse: solar irradiance and drought

The potential role of changes in total solar irradiance (TSI) (sun spots) in driving climatic variability has been widely cited and hotly de…

Nitrogen controls on ecosystem functioning in neotropical dry forests

Global agriculture is rapidly expanding in response to the growing demand for food, with ‘agricultural frontiers’, such as dry and ferti…

Pathways to Realistic Impact Modelling in Estuarine Areas (PRIMEA)

Estuaries connect terrestrial and marine environments, providing one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth. Complex land-sea interactio…

Persistent organic pollutant futures: making 21st century projections of POPs concentrations and risks in British soils

This project will use cutting edge projections of the future state of society to predict how pollution and its impacts may change across Bri…

Reducing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions – RAGGE

Nitrogen inputs into agricultural systems are an essential requirement for healthy, high yielding crop production, but they can also result …

Rewilding trajectories: how important are the early years?

Would you like to earn a PhD doing research at the cutting edge of biodiversity, ecosystem services, environmental genomics and land-use cha…

Savanna Soil Carbon: investigating biological climate resilience

Savanna ecosystems occupy 20% of the Earth’s land surface and are characterized by open canopied mixed woodland with a grassy understorey …

Soil ecological function in a 163 year grassland experiment

The need to produce healthy and food sustainably is reliant on healthy soil. This is certainly true of grassland ecosystems on which over ha…

Soil microbes to mitigate climate change

Human populations are expected to increase by 50% to 9 billion by 2050 as climate change continues. The global challenge is to manage terres…

Space weather at mid-latitudes: climatology, dynamics and drivers of atmospheric Joule heating

The Earth experiences ‘space weather’ that impacts the planetary environment in a variety of ways. These impacts are a recognised enviro…

The evolution of mimicry in a changing world: how shifting bumblebee communities affect selection on a colour-polymorphic hoverfly

Complex species interactions make the impacts of global environmental change difficult to foresee. Understanding the ecological and evolutio…

Tracing the Anthropocene, its history and hazards

What lurks beneath: unravelling the chemically-guided ecological interactions of Armillaria fungi, a devastating group of subterranean forest pathogens

Armillaria species, are devastating fungal root-rot pathogens that affect over 500 woody plant species globally. They are facultative necrot…

Projects

Applications for 2020 are now open.

Available Projects