Compatibility of climate and biodiversity targets under future land use change
Not stated
- Location
- Southampton, United Kingdom
- Funding
- INSPIRE studentships; UKRI standard levels, including the recent cost of living increase
- Application deadline
- See university guidance
About the project
Averting catastrophic climate change will require transformational societal change. A key aspect of such change will be in sectors such as agriculture and energy systems. However, there is emerging evidence ((Dunnett et al. 2022) that some options for achieving our climate ambitions risk undermining globally agreed targets relating to biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is therefore essential that future energy and agricultural systems are designed to address both the climate and ecological crisis in parallel. Doing so will require ensuring that land used to meet future energy and food demand does not impact our imperative to maintain and even increase natural ecosystems such as forests. The aim of this project is to develop and empirically test spatial models that assess the degree to which transformational change of landscapes to mitigate climate change can also achieve the protection of natural systems on which human wellbeing depends. Analysis will be conducted at both regional scale to address policy relevant questions for the UK government, and at global scale to examine compatibility between global targets relating to climate and biodiversity. Questions will be examined through the lens of international treaties (e.g UN SDGs) and their regional implementation strategies (e.g. UK 25 Year Environment Plan).
For full project details visit the Inspire project page .
Supervisors
- Doctor Robert Holland (University of Southampton)
- Professor Felix Eigenbrod (University of Southampton)
Potential supervisors
- Potential supervisors: Lead supervisor Dr Robert Holland Lecturer in Natural Sciences Supervisors Professor Felix Eigenbrod Professor of Applied Spatial Ecology
Lead supervisor
- Lead supervisor: Dr Robert Holland Lecturer in Natural Sciences
Dr Robert Holland
- Dr Robert Holland: Lecturer in Natural Sciences
Supervisors
- Supervisors: Professor Felix Eigenbrod Professor of Applied Spatial Ecology
Professor Felix Eigenbrod
- Professor Felix Eigenbrod: Professor of Applied Spatial Ecology
Entry requirements
A 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent , in one of these subjects:
- any Earth or environmental science discipline
- any numerate discipline
Fees and funding
INSPIRE studentships are funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, part of UK Research and Innovation, UKRI). The stipend is in line with UKRI standard levels, including the recent cost of living increase.
All studentships are fully funded for 3.5 years.
How to apply
To make an application, visit the how to apply section of the INSPIRE website .
Contact us
For questions about the project, contact Doctor Robert Holland:
Email: r.a.holland@soton.ac.uk
For questions about the application process, contact the graduate school office.
Email: gsnocs@soton.ac.uk