Kate Dewally

During my Msci in Bioveterinary Science at Harper Adams University, my interest in the intersection between human land use (such as farming) and environmental impact grew. During this degree, I gained experience with farmers in East Anglia as well as developed a theoretical knowledge of sustainable farming practises and why they are important, as well as why landowners and tenants make the decisions that they do. After this, I worked as a research assistant for Cambridge University as part of the Carbon Credits Centre. Within the group, I researched the displacement of agricultural land use as the result of conservation practises (leakage). Alongside these experiences, I enjoy developing my teaching skills and have worked as an undergraduate supervisor at Cambridge University for the subjects of Conservation Science and Applied Ecology. I also have an online biology tutoring business. My experiences so far have enhanced my problem-solving skills, organisation and communication within and beyond scientific audiences. These will be carried forward and developed further through my PhD.

Navigating Emerging Markets for Ecosystem Services to Deliver for Nature

Knowledge on how nature delivers benefits to society has been rapidly accruing in science and has sparked a flurry of public and private investment in concepts such as carbon, nutrient and biodiversity credits to offset pollution or enhance habitats. This PhD will provide timely research on the translation of this scientific research into agri-environmental policy in the UK as well as delivering clarity, and tools for landowners and managers.

I will be partnered with a local landscape scale project for habitat restoration alongside agricultural production (the Wendling Beck Environment Project: https://www.wendlingbeck.org/). Working with the project will allow me to engage regularly with stakeholders including landowners, conservation charities, including the Nature Conservancy, and the local industry leaders at Anglian Water.

To approach the research, I will use a combination of research techniques including GIS, qualitative analysis, and statistics to investigate a potential range of research gaps which could include effective baselining for biodiversity crediting, combining different revenue streams, and estimating the monetary value of various farm management options.

This work is funded by the UEA School of Environmental Sciences, and I have joined ARIES as an associate member.