At this CDT our focus is on wetland ecosystems: Land that is wet for at least some of the time, or water that is dry for at least some of the time!
Subtidal marine systems, e.g. coral reefs, open ocean are not within scope, intertidal systems, eg, saltmarsh, seagrass, mangrove are in scope. Similarly, rivers/lochs/lakes per se are not within scope, but their associated systems (e.g. floodplain, marsh, ditch, fen, wet woodland, blanket bog etc) are in scope.
During their three year and eight-month PhD students receive world class training in multi-stressor science and wetland ecology in a mix of in-person cohort-building events and online training. The training is enriched through the active involvement of our associated partners, who contribute to the design and delivery of the programme, organise challenge events, and offer secondments and internships. This provides students with valuable real world experience in addressing environmental problems and working in a professional environment.
Meet the Supervisors
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Research Foci
Research Projects
ECOWILD students will work on a challenging research project aligned with one or more of the five priority research areas identified through horizon scanning exercises and in collaboration with our stakeholders. All projects will include consideration of more than one environmental stressor through empirical investigations or from a restoration or governance/management perspective.
The project brings together experts on dune ecology and palaeo-environmental reconstruction with those from conservation bodies to establish evidence-based guidance on where and how we implement dune slack restoration. You will gain an understanding in key ecological successional and hydrological processes affecting biological communities in dune slacks. You will learn palaeo-ecological techniques such as diatom analysis to establish pH, salinity and trophic status. Field work will involve planning a survey of dune sites across the UK, taking sediment cores and water sampling. Laboratory skills acquired will include diatom identification, preparation of samples for radiometric dating, analysis of water and soil samples. The data will be used to predict restoration potential under different nutrient and groundwater hydrological regimes. You will have the opportunity to develop your presentation skills at conferences and written skills through publishing scientific papers.
This PhD project will address this research gap by collecting, analysing and interpreting field-sampled and -monitored water quantity and quality parameters to determine multi-benefit, holistic system performance, and link this into wider biodiversity assessments of urban wetland systems. This will be combined with citizen science methodologies to underpin hydroclimatic understandings of GI ‘performance’. The successful candidate will develop strong data collection, analysis and interpersonal skills.
Core skills development within this PhD include:
• Development and planning of environmental sensor experiments and biodiversity assessments;
• Environmental field data collection, analysis and interpretation;
• Analytical laboratory expertise (i.e. discrete assessments of soil and water samples, critical evaluation of multiple metrics/parameters);
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for spatial analysis and visualisation of urban green infrastructure;
• Communication of scientific findings to diverse audiences, including policymakers, community groups and academic researchers;
• Stakeholder engagement and co-production of knowledge to ensure wider project impact and involvement;
• Project management skills, time management and financial budgeting.
This project will work alongside conservation bodies to understand how we can quantify biodiversity and functioning in these ecosystems, and work at a unique new lagg habitat management project in South Cumbria to develop new tools to manage wet woodlands. The project team is supervised by experienced field ecologists with a track-record in wetland and woodland ecosystem science, as well as the wider team including conservation evidence and practice officers and regional managers. The student will develop skills in field ecology, biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, plant and cryptogam ecology, mapping and survey methods including spatial and temporal approaches. They will also learn about manipulations and using on-off and gradient treatments to detect ecosystem response to multiple stressors. The student will also learn about policy and practice in site management, and thus develop skills in wider conservation practice. Statistics and numeracy skills, lab skills and analytical techniques will also be core to the work.
The supervisory team comprise expertise across multiple stressor science, ecotoxicology, analytics and water policy. The student will develop skills in the development of theoretical approaches to predict the impacts of multi-stressors in this exciting project. This scientific topic is extremely important for protecting biodiversity and is a dynamic and rapidly advancing area of study. In addition, the student will gain skills in experimental design for setting up multiple stressor exposures, and husbandry for freshwater organisms/laboratory exposures.
There will also be opportunities to be involved with analytical approaches for identification of pollutants and to carry out fieldwork. In addition to the exciting research culture at Heriot-Watt University – where they will primarily be based – the student will have access to the outstanding facilities and training opportunities offered by UKCEH.
The student will be based primarily at UKCEH (lead supervision) and registered with Heriot-Watt (academic supervision). The student will develop (i) strong general data science and numerical skills, and (ii) advanced specialist skills in spatial information, earth observation and drone operation; and (iii) understanding of the distribution of environmental stressors. The student will benefit from access to the full portfolio of training available to UKCEH staff. Relevant training will include advanced coding and data analysis (e.g. R, Python), statistics, machine learning, GIS, remote sensing software, field work practices, first aid. The student will be supported to learn how to pilot drones as far as practical and appropriate for the project (e.g. working towards a GVC certification).
The student will have the opportunity to formulate a project on the timely topic of reintroducing a keystone species, exploring their potential to tolerate and alleviate stressors in freshwater ecosystems and contribute to resolving the biodiversity crisis. Engaging in the design of biodiversity surveys and experiments in natural settings, the candidate will untangle the complexities of multiple stressors while gaining valuable fieldwork experience.
The student will be based at the multidisciplinary Environmental Research Institute in Thurso (UHI NWH). They will take charge to develop all aspects of the project, including experimental design, sampling, data analysis as well as academic writing and communication. They will be trained in peatland science, plant physiology and chemical ecology. Physiological stress responses of Sphagnum mosses to drought and nutrient deposition will be explored in controlled mesocosm experiments and field studies. Field ecology skills will be developed in the peatlands of the Flow Country in northern Scotland. The student will acquire skills in a range of analytical methods including nutrient analyses and volatile organic compound emissions from plant tissues with GC-MS, as well as in the processing and analysis of large ecological and chemical datasets.
The project will provide opportunity for the student to gain knowledge and skills relating to agricultural and ditch systems. Fieldwork skills will be developed to collect a range of hydrological and chemical related data, including experimental design, fieldwork campaign planning and sensor technology aspects. There is also opportunity for the student to develop numerical modelling skills e.g. hydrological/hydraulic models, to upscale from local ditches to ditch networks and catchment scale impacts. Most importantly, the project will provide the relaxed environment for the student to be creative, show initiative and build confidence in their ability to lead a research project.
The project will benefit from supervision by a highly multidisciplinary team including experts in wildlife health, ecology, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, environmental management and policy. The student will develop expertise in analytical chemistry, the diagnosis of disease, chemical fate and biomonitoring, statistical analyses, policy and regulation – all within the context of a broader ecological understanding of freshwater ecosystems and wildlife health. They will benefit from the opportunity to work with project supervisors at Natural England (expertise in ecotoxicology and mammal ecology), at the Institute of Zoology (Disease Risk Analysis and Health Surveillance; DRAHS) and with several academic partners (biogeochemists/wildlife toxicologists).
The student’s field-based UK project will inform work within a pilot study investigating nature-based solutions for nutrient loading from cattle farming in South Africa (and potentially other projects). The student will engage across all aspects of experimental design and creation, wetland sampling, molecular and analytical assays, stakeholder engagement and policy. Specifically, it is likely that the student will develop greenhouse-based experimental designs and combine this with field-based research. Soil and water samples will be taken, with the potential to explore plant tissues. Analyses of nutrient loading in sediments and waters, microbial community composition and function, and plant community will be performed by the student.
Outcomes from the studies will be presented at conferences, with stakeholders, and policy-makers advising on nature-based solutions for nutrient loading from agriculture and urban systems in a changing climate.
The student will train in field and analytical techniques to monitor environmental conditions and pollution status in wetland habitats. The student will then learn laboratory methods to culture copepods and assay their behaviour, physiology and reproductive fitness, and be supported to undertake and statistically analyse and multigenerational multistressor experiments. The student will additionally learn and develop laboratory, bioinformatic, and statistical approaches to examine stressor responses at the genetic level, focusing on transgenerational adaptation and comparisons across the study populations. The student will benefit in their training from the wide expertise across the supervision team.
The successful candidate will have a unique opportunity to develop a diverse range of skills in the field of soil science and ecology. Field skills you may develop include sample collection of soil and earthworms (including developing species identification skills) and the design of field experiments; laboratory skills include the design and execution of experiments to test hypotheses relating to complex ecological questions, analysis of soils and earthworms for metals, measuring oxygen concentrations in solution and molecular biology skills. You will learn advanced statistical analysis methods for analysing complex datasets, which you will interpret and communicate to a variety of stakeholders through presentations at conferences, writing papers for publication and less formal interaction with non-scientific audiences.
The supervisory team comprises expertise in Christmas Island land crab developmental biology, ecophysiology, molecular toxicology, and analytical chemistry as well as applied conservation management (JNCC, Ramsar, and Parks Australia).
The student will be trained in field sampling, developmental biology, ecophysiology and molecular toxicology. The interdisciplinary project will involve techniques of practical environmental challenges on early life stages of crabs in the lab and in the field. Analytical chemistry will establish contaminant profiles in multiple environmental samples. Embryo phenomics will train in analytical embryology and larval development, and molecular and genetic analyses will enable the student to be proficient in multiple biological level analyses. The student will also work closely with policy partners to understand how scientific findings are integrated into conservation policy.
This PhD will quantify how these pulsed multiple stressor events interact over time and space to affect wetland invertebrates using a range of techniques (including field work, mesocosm experiments, and population modelling). You will then use this information to develop a species conservation and recovery programme for some of the most at-risk insects and molluscs in the UK. You will be supervised by Dr Michelle Jackson at the University of Oxford (the host institute), Dr Louise Lactivore (Freshwater Biological Association in the Lake District), and Dr Tim Szewczyk (Scottish Association for Marine Science).
This supervisory team has expertise in multiple stressors, conservation, and quantitative ecology. The student will develop broad field biology, laboratory, experimental, and data analysis skills. There will include invertebrate sampling, chemical testing, mesocosm experiments, demographic modelling, and meta-analyses. They will learn how to apply these skills to real-world conservation plans and gain hands-on experience in both academic and NGO settings.
The supervisors consist of a holistic team including leading experts on UK peatlands, carbon cycling and soil hydrology together with project and CASE partners from the North York Moors National Park Authority (NYM NPA) and the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC: Dr Hannah McGrath), with further support from the British Geological Survey (BGS: Dr Nicole Archer) as project partner.
Currently, peatland restoration focuses on existing deep peat areas, such as filling in ditches and revegetating bare peat as well as encouraging Sphagnum moss to rewet peat areas and enhance peat formation. This project will be the first to consider restoring lost areas of deep peat (i.e., where only shallow layers remain), which will require overcoming very specific ecohydrological limitations (biogeochemical, vegetation, management) and refining restoration methods based on understanding where deep peat once existed and how best to achieve new peat formation. Approaches will consider local circumstances such as climate, slope, historic management, current habitat condition and management alongside pH, soil wetness and nutrient levels.
A key aim will be to identify approaches to enhance wetness resilience and facilitate the establishment of peat-forming Sphagnum moss by targeted vegetation and soil management. Field and mesocosm/laboratory trials will test limiting factors/stressors and associated restoration to overcome those limitations and monitoring options to help with decision-making and monitoring of restoration success.
The student will work with and benefit from the management experience of RSPB as the project partner with a placement opportunity at Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve. The student will be supported to develop their expertise and skills depending on those they bring to the project, emerging with ecological fieldwork skills, experience in avian ecology and ecological modelling, statistics, and machine learning. Analysis of data and development of state-of the art modelling will involve acquiring coding skills, e.g. using R or Python. The supervisory team will ensure the applicant develops communication skills via seminars, peer-reviewed conference/journal contributions and the popular media. We place considerable emphasis on producing a well-rounded student able to combine their skills and expertise to pursue opportunities in academia or conservation management following the PhD.
The project is supported by a CASE award with Reckitt, an international healthcare and consumer hygiene company. The student will develop an understanding of how climate change will affect the fate, behaviour, uptake and effects of chemical contaminants in wetland environments.
The student will gain hands on experience in environmental analytical chemistry (e.g. LC-MS-MS), environmental fate testing (e.g. sorption and persistence studies), the testing of the uptake of chemicals into species with different traits, modelling approaches for accumulation of chemical contaminants into organisms, and ecotoxicity assessment methods.
The studentship will provide you with excellent training and guidance in experimental design, field and mesocosm experiments, greenhouse gas flux and carbon storage measurements, soil fauna approaches, water, soil and vegetation analyses, and opportunity to disseminate experimental results during meetings and conferences. There will also be opportunities to be involved in activities of the stakeholder partner The Rivers Trust. UK floodplains are crucial for healthy riverine ecosystems, but their functionality has been degraded by channel manipulation, agricultural use and pollution. Climate change may additionally affect floodplain performance through changes in flooding dynamics and conditions (e.g. more frequent summer floods), but this is less well studied. As these multiple stressors will occur simultaneously, we also urgently need to know their combined impacts. UK floodplains have been under pressure from human activity and can be hotspots for pollutant input through contaminated sediment deposition. Simultaneously, floodplain functions may also be affected by climate change.
This cutting-edge study will therefore provide critical evidence on how these multiple stressors, single and in combination, will impact pollutant and sediment retention, carbon storage, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity in floodplains to inform management, restoration and climate change mitigation.
The student will complete fieldwork in Cambodia in collaboration with the WWT Cambodian team, the Cambodian Development Resource Institute and other partners in Cambodia. A mixed-method and multidisciplinary approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, will be used to gather and map information. The student will develop expertise and skills in ecological quality analysis, wetland ecology, GIS and modelling environmental change, statistical analysis, sustainable development, social sciences methodologies eg. interviews, content and policy analysis. Dr Julia Newth and WWT colleagues will lead project development and Cambodian fieldwork. At University of York, the student will be supervised by Professor Kathryn Arnold (biodiversity conservation), Dr Richard Friend (water resource management, hydropower, fisheries and local livelihoods in the Mekong region) and at UHI Dr Elizabeth Marsden (spatial analysis).
We welcome applications from suitably qualified Cambodian candidates. Via the ECOWILD CDT, the candidate will also gain experience in the design and implementation of biodiversity monitoring and experiments in natural settings to disentangle multiple biodiversity stressors. Additionally, they will develop valuable and transferable skills in cutting-edge molecular methods like DNA metabarcoding and bioinformatic and statistical analysis. The student will also engage with measurements and modelling of peatland emissions and develop a holistic understanding of the peatland biodiversity and functioning.
The supervisory team of this project is comprised by UHI and University of York academics with expertise in atmospheric pollution science, and landscape-scale peatland and eDNA monitoring, in collaboration with private (SSE) and public (Forestry Land Scotland) stakeholders, and is well equipped to support the student’s development and project.
The student will develop a project in a topical subject in the interface between the biodiversity and climate crises, addressing the potential of large-scale restoration as a mitigation tool. The candidate will gain experience in the design and implementation of biodiversity monitoring and experiments in natural settings to disentangle multiple biodiversity stressors. Additionally, they will develop valuable and transferable skills in cutting-edge molecular methods like DNA metabarcoding and bioinformatic and statistical analysis. The student will also engage with measurements and modelling of peatland emissions and develop a holistic understanding of the peatland biodiversity and functioning.
(Owen, from AstraZeneca) will link the student into a multi-million dollar global programme of landscape restoration projects. The supervisor at York (Heinemeyer) is a UK peatland expert, with an established network of stakeholders across UK uplands and to policymakers. The US supervisor (Robertson, from Wisconsin-Madison) will provide the same for the USA. The student will combine development of field-based skills and experience in wetland ecology – across the US and the UK – with cutting-edge analytical
research into some of the most important emerging regulatory mechanisms for nature conservation in the world today: net environmental outcome policies. They will consequently need to have or develop skills in fieldwork, statistical analyses, spatial analysis, and restoration ecology.
This PhD is ideal for someone who not only enjoys international ecological research, but wants to make sure their research translates into real nature conservation impact, in this case with businesses and the public sector.
Professional Development
In addition to specialised training, ECOWILD students will attend careers events and established workshops, including for data management, time management, leadership, writing skills and viva preparation, aligning with the Vitae Research Development Framework.