I am a plant ecologist with an interest on how plants, biodiversity and complex ecosystems respond to environmental change. Evidence in this area is critical to accelerate ecological recovery and promote nature-positive policies for the environment and human well-being in the context of global change. I report my research and botanical activities in this blog.

My work partners, such as Forestry England and RSPB are active on the ground implementing land-based solutions to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises. I support them with my ecosystem monitoring expertise, for example when conducting research focused on understanding environmental change during rewilding at Wild Saltholme, a rewilding project led by RSPB Saltholme and part of the Rewilding Britain network. This site also illustrates how students work can contribute to create positive change on the ground.

Prior to my tenure, I completed over five years of research, at the Environmental Change and Biodiversity lab in UCL,  investigating interactions between the negative effect of pollution and the positive effect of connectivity for freshwater biodiversity. During that time, I gain expertise in monitoring aquatic plant diversity and their ecosystems across a variety of UK landscapes. This body of work has resulted in high impact publications that guide policy makers and environmental managers when planning nature recovery of our freshwater networks.

Previously, I completed my PhD at the Oxford Long-term Ecology lab on the long-term impact of grazing by megaherbivores, as promoted by the practice of rewilding. I conducted vegetation surveys and sample collection, in the New Forest (England), the Oostvaardersplassen (the Netherlands) and the forest of Bialowieza (Poland). This was an opportunity to apply my skills and my holistic thinking to a specific problem (how to estimate the abundance of megaherbivore, and its impact, over long period of time). The resulting publications contributed to the development of a method now routinely used in palaeoecology - the study of ecology over long periods from decades to millennia.

My work is underpinned by my interest in the natural environment, my botanical skills, my ecosystem monitoring expertise and my statistical analysis.

Please get in touch if you are interested in studying a PhD with me. Key ares for PhD projects are listed below:

• Monitoring abiotic, biotic and socio-ecological change during rewilding
• Ecosystem response to cryptic plant invasions from native x cultivated hybrids
• Efficiency of nature recovery policies