About Us

The Environmental Science research group in the School of Botany is focused on using quantitative methods to solve environmental problems, with particular reference to issues in conservation. We work in the belief that the application of these methods will lead to better outcomes for conservation because the information supporting decisions will be relatively transparent, internally consistent, and free from the semantic ambiguities that plague more subjective approaches.

There are four main strands to the research that answer four main questions: 

1. Where is a species likely to occur? The group uses statistical habitat models to predict species distributions, as a component of reserve design methods, to set priorities for resource use planning, and as an element in the design of metapopulation models. The research includes evaluating methods for validating habitat maps, the propagation and representation of uncertainty, and the relative importance of false negative records in model building. 

2. How will management options affect a species? The group builds population models for threatened and invasive species, as a basis for evaluating the relative efficacy of management alternatives. Currently, research includes evaluation of approaches to reconciling the different planning objectives that arise when managing landscapes for many species. 

3. How are priorities for species conservation set? The group is exploring the strengths and weaknesses of methods for classifying the conservation status of species used by the Nature Conservancy, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the IUCN. The methods are being compared and tested using historical data, simulations for extant species, and simulations for hypothetical species. 

4. How should populations and processes be monitored? Several projects are evaluating new approaches to monitoring variables to reflect changes in the status of species, ecosystem services and processes. These projects are evaluating the utility of models for ecosystem processes in the design of monitoring programs, and the application of statistical process control methods to support adaptive management of natural resources. 

The specific research questions under each of these broad headings are motivated by the pragmatic needs of regulators, community groups, industry and other stakeholders.