I have for many years worked as a Senior Research Associate in the School of Environmental Sciences (ENV) at UEA, contributing to a wide range of research projects.  I have in addition, from time to time, assisted with projects for the UEA Centre for Competiton Policy and School of Health Sciences. 

My latest work in ENV has been assisting with an EU Horizon research programme that has recently commenced. 'FARMWISE' (Future Agricultural Resource Management and Water Innovations for a Sustainable Europe) will empower farmers and decision-makers with a state-of-the-art decision support system, combining precision agriculture, AI, and RS. FARMWISE will provide new insights into water quality, quantity, soil health, and nutrient management. 

Prior to that I worked on Natural Capital Guides for the Suffolk Coasts AONB, Dedham Vale AONB, Norfolk Coasts AONB, Norfolk Broads National Park, and also a project on the ecosystem service benefits provided by roadside trees.  An earlier project for Norfolk & Suffolk County Councils, produced a Natural Capital Evidence Compendium for Norfolk and Suffolk.  This was awarded a UEA Research and Innovation Prize for Consultancy Project of the Year (2023). 

I have also recently worked on a UKERC 4 integration project Infrastructure Transformation for Net Zero: Environmental Risks and an earlier project (ADVENT) which examined how to better assess interactions between energy systems and natural capital. Prior to that I was part of the ENV-UEA team working on DEFRA’s Demonstration Test Catchment Programme, contributing to the Wensum DTC knowledge exchange work.

A common theme of the research undertaken with my colleagues in ENV is working alongside stakeholder groups and organisations in research that develops 'ground-up' solutions to environmental problems, and I am interested in the communication of science information to non-scientific audiences. 

Career Notes

1991 – 1992: Student Placement at the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, working on CITES monitoring (trade in endangered species), and special project on global trade in shark fins.

1993 - 1994: Project Officer, British Trust for Ornithology, for pilot year of national Barn Owl survey

1994 – 1998: Postgraduate student, School of Environmental Sciences, UEA

1999 – 2024: Senior Research Associate, School of Environmental Sciences, UEA

I have worked on a range of projects evaluating environmental impacts, with work on topics including climate change and rural landscapes, diffuse pollution from agriculture, water quality, expansion of biomass crops, evaluation of different potential energy futures, and the review of risks to natural assets and ecosystem services.  

My PhD, completed in 1998, was a GIS based study which modelled relationships between plant distributions and climate to examine the potential impact of climate change on plant communities in nature reserves in Great Britain.  

Research Programme Participation

EU Interreg IIIb North Sea Programme, European Regional Development Fund [2000 – 2006] “Water4all”

EU 7^th Framework Programme, Socio-Economic Sciences & Humanities [2007 – 2013] “Rural Future Networks” (RUFUS)

NERC Rural Economy and Land Use Programme [2004 – 2013] “Increasing Rural Land Use under Energy Crops” (RELU Biomass)

The Research Councils UK Energy Programme Phase II [2009 – 2013] “UKERC - UK Energy Strategies Under Uncertainty”

DEFRA Demonstration Test Catchments Programme [2010 – 2019] “Wensum DTC”

NERC Valuing Natural Capital in Low Carbon Energy Pathways Programme [2015 – 2020] “ADVENT (ADressing Valuation of Energy and Nature Together)” 

Interreg Europe IRENES project [2019 - 2023] “Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies”

FARMWISE "Future Agricultural Resource Management and Water Innovations for a Sustainable Europe" [2024 – 2027] EU Horizon Europe research and innovation programme

Significant Publications

• Cooper, R.J., Hama-Aziz, Z.Q., Hiscock, K.M., Lovett, A.A., Vrain, E., Dugdale, S.J., Sünnenberg, G., Dockerty, T., Hovesen, P. and Noble, L., 2020. Conservation tillage and soil health: Lessons from a 5-year UK farm trial (2013–2018). Soil and Tillage Research, [online] 202, p.104648. Link to this article:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2020.104648

• Lovett, A., Dockerty, T., Papathanasopoulou, E., Beaumont, N., Smith, P. (2015) “A framework for assessing the impacts on ecosystem services of energy provision in the UK: An example relating to the production and combustion life cycle of UK produced biomass crops (short rotation coppice and Miscanthus)” Biomass and Bioenergy. 83. pp. 311-321
• Lovett, A.A., Hiscock, K.M., Outram, F.N., Cooper, R.J., Dugdale, S., Stevenson, J., Sunnenberg, G., Hama-Aziz, Z., Dockerty, T.L., Noble, L., Beamish, J. and Hovesen, P. (2015) “Experiments with cover crops and cultivation techniques in the Wensum DTC”, pp.85-90 in Green, M., Measures, M., Stobart, R. and Storkey, J. (eds) “Getting the Most out of Cover Crops” Aspects of Applied Biology 129, Association of Applied Biologists, Wellesbourne, Warwick.
• Dockerty, T contributing author in - Watson, J., Gross, R., Kestopoulou, I. and Winskel, M (2014) UK Energy Strategies Under Uncertainty – Synthesis Report (UKERC: London) REF UKERC/RR/FG/214/002.
• Dockerty, T; Dockerty, Tim; Lovett, A; Papathanasopoulou, E; Beaumont, N; Wang, S & Smith, P (2014) Interactions between the Energy System, Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital UKERC Working Paper, London, UK: UK Energy Research Council (UKERC). REF: UKERC/WP/FG/2014/010.
• Lovett, A., Sünnenberg, G., Dockerty, T. (2014) “The availability of land for perennial energy crops in Great Britain” Global Change Biology Bioenergy (special issue) 6. pp. 99-107.  Link to this article:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12147
• Dockerty, T; Appleton, K & Lovett, A (2012) “Public opinion on energy crops in the landscape: Considerations for the expansion of renewable energy from biomass.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 55:9, 1134-1158. Link to this article:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2011.636966
• Bond, A, T Dockerty, A Lovett, A B Riche, A J Haughton, D A Bohan, R B Sage, I F Shield, J W Finch, M M Turner and A Karp (2010), "Learning how to deal with values, frames and governance in Sustainability Appraisal", Regional Studies. Vol 45, Issue 8, p1157-1170. Link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2010.485181
• Haughton, A J; Bond, A J; Lovett, A A;  Dockerty, T L; Sünnenberg, G; Clark, S J; Bohan, D A; Sage, R B; Mallott, M D; Mallott, V E; Cunningham, M D; Riche, A B; Shield, I F; Finch, J W; Turner, M M and Karp, A.(2009) A novel, integrated approach to assessing social, economic and environmental implications of changing rural land-use:  a case study of perennial biomass crops. Special Issue: Journal of Applied Ecology Vol 46, Issue 2, p315-322. Link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01623.x
• Karp, A; Haughton, A J; Bonham, D A; Lovett, A A; Bond, A J; Dockerty T L; Sunnenberg, G; Finch, J W; Sage, R B; Appleton, K A; Riches, A B; Mallott, M D; Mallot, V E; Cunningham M D; Clark, S and Turner M M (2009) “Perennial Energy Crops: Implications and Potential” In M Winter and M Lobley (eds) What is Land for? The Food, Fuel and Climate Change Debate.  London: Earthscan.
• Hiscock, K; Lovett, A; Saich, A; Dockerty, T; Johnson, P; Sandhu, C; Sunnenberg, G; Appletons K; Harris, B & Greaves, J (2007) Modelling land-use scenarios to reduce groundwater nitrate pollution: the European Water4all project. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrology, 40 p 417-434.
• Dockerty, T; Lovett, A; Appleton, K; Bone, A & Sunnenberg, G (2006) Developing scenarios and visualisations to illustrate potential policy and climatic influences on future agricultural landscapes.  Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment Vol. 114, Issue 1, Scenario-Based Studies of Future Land Use in Europe. Edited by Peter H. Verburg, Mark D.A. Rounsevell and A. Veldkamp. p 103 – 120. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.11.008
• Dockerty, T; Lovett, A; Sunnenberg, G; Appleton K; Parry M (2005) Visualising the potential impacts of climate change on rural landscapes. Computers, Environment and Urban SystemsVol. 29. pp297-320. doi:10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2004.05.004
• Dockerty, T, Lovett, A & Watkinson, A. (2003) Climate change and nature reserves: examining the potential impacts, with examples from Great Britain. Global Environmental Change. Vol.13, pp 125-135. doi:10.1016/S0959-3780(03)00010-4.
• Dockerty, T & Lovett, A (2003) A location-centred, GIS-based methodology for estimating the potential impacts of climate change on nature reserves Transactions in GIS Volume 7. No. 3. (June 2003) pp 345-370.
• Appleton, K J; Lovett, A A; Sünnenberg, G and Dockerty, T (2002) Rural landscape visualisation from GIS databases: A comparison of approaches, options and problems. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Vol. 26, pp.141-162.

Research Group Membership

Professor Andrew Lovett (ENV)

Professor Kevin Hiscock (ENV)