Lianas and French cuisine at the Society for Tropical Ecology (GTOE) Conference in Montpellier, 7-9th June 2022.

August 2, 2022

A blog by Geertje van der Heijden, Associate Professor Just before Christmas, I received an email asking if I wanted to contribute as the introductory speaker for a liana focussed session titled ‘Tropical lianas: functional traits, ecology and impact in the tropics’, which was part of the Society for Tropical Ecology (GTOE) conference in Montpellier …

Farming system in the black desert (Harrat Al-Sham): resilience to face climate change

July 18, 2022

A blog by Ali Ben Mustapha Farming system in drylands is considered as the most vulnerable system to climate change although several drylands in the world are more productive than wetlands. This is generally dependent on many factors like knowledge, technology, big budgets and natural resources availability like water. Those factors could improve the yield …

Knowledge Systems in Disrupting Times: Reflections on transnational research in Mexico and Belize

June 29, 2022

A blog by Karla G. Hernandez-Aguilar  It has been almost three years since I started my PhD and just like everyone, I started with some idea of what this adventure was going to look like. However, two years ago the world suddenly changed, including the way of learning and the way of doing research. Throughout …

Exploring the geographies of cosmopolitanism

December 7, 2021

A blog by James Beardsmore In this short blog, I want to provide some of my thoughts on my research to date as I prepare for the next phase of data collection. My research focuses on the relationship between cosmopolitanism and international finance, in particular how cosmopolitanism is acquired and mobilised by individuals who work …

Being “out out” but still “in in” at Kew Gardens: measuring the invisible of lianas and trees

November 25, 2021

A blog by Geertje van der Heijden In July 2021, Doreen Boyd and I went to the tropical greenhouses in Royal Botanical Gardens Kew to collaborate with Dr. Justin Moat to start an ambitious project to collate the first substantial tropical liana (woody vines) and tree spectral library. Equipped with a fancy Spectral Evolution spectrometer …

COP26: faith for a safe climate future

November 11, 2021

A blog by Dr Chris Ives The recent IPCC Working Group 1 report has made it clear that the climate crisis is not fundamentally a challenge of science but a challenge of our beliefs, commitments and actions. The UN Secretary General commented that “the evidence is irrefutable” and that the report sets out “a clear …

Addressing modern slavery at COP26

A blog by Dr Bethany Jackson Modern slavery has increasingly been linked to the environment; in particular environmental degradation and climate change. This nexus is both cyclical and bi-directional meaning that modern slavery can be a driver of environmental change as well an outcome – changes in the environment can push people into situations where …

COP26: crops for a changing environment

A blog by Matt Jones and Malcolm Bennett Human societies have been dealing with climate change for a long time. It is therefore not a new concern as such, but it is one that has been exacerbated in recent decades by our own activities and global awareness. Agriculture is impacted by, and impacts, the climate …

Realising resilience: How do we make COP26 deliver for adaptation in fragile urban environments?

A blog by Dr Arabella Fraser Financing adaptation and resilience is a big theme for COP26 in Glasgow. Regardless of any future warming trajectory, some measure of adaptation will be necessary. For developing and vulnerable nations, financing this is the lynchpin of developed world commitment to tackling climate change. The US has recently followed through …

RE: Power the Valley

November 9, 2021

A blog by Ian Jackson In 2010, I knew a little about climate change as Chief Engineer in a multinational packaging manufacturer, responsible for our Climate Change Agreement, but I didn’t start to understand the significance and urgency of its impacts until I discovered Transition Belper (TB), a local sustainability community group, and read Rob …