General introduction

In many fieldwork-based conservation studies, things do not go according to plan. A great many research projects in conservation circles generate positive or negative results or both which make…

As 2021 begins, we are at a precarious time in both human and natural history. Human-made objects now outweigh all living things on planet earth, and over 8,000 species are threatened with extinction due to human actions(1). This is drastically undermining the capacity of nature to…

Most business models of the 21st century have a net negative impact on nature. They fundamentally rely on using natural resources – oil for fuel, land for infrastructure, cotton for textiles – with few incentives to replace or regenerate what is lost. As of 2020, human-made materials outweigh all living things on…

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

This is the final…

My title echoes one of my favourite poems (by Thomas Hardy), which seems particularly apt just now. As I write, we in the UK are in our second period of lockdown and the mood of uncertainty and gloom is pervasive (not helped by the darkening days). COVID-19 is our clearest signal yet that, in our interconnected world, what happens far away impinges directly on our lives…

EJ was interviewed by New College recently for its Celebrating Women in STEM at New College special.

You can read her interview here, and find out about her time studying at the University.