A Smart Ecosystem Monitoring Platform for Long-term, Multifunctional Landscape Climate Adaptation Research

The Industry and Innovation Research Institute (I2Ri) draws on talents, expertise and facilities across Sheffield Hallam University. The vision is to be the leading provider of applied research excellence delivering materials, computing, science and engineering innovations meeting the development needs of industry.

PhD Research Topic

How does a human-environment system (an ‘eco-cultural’ system; in other words, a landscape) respond to change? Many of the challenges facing cities in mitigating, adapting and developing resilience to climate change are linked at landscape scale. Flood risk downstream, land use upstream. Water supply, water consumption, waste and pollution. The overarching goals of environmental management - resilience, sustainability, biodiversity, quality of life - are emergent features derived from the healthy functioning of the underlying eco-cultural system.

The ecological impacts of changes in land management on a particular site may be complex and emerge over long time periods and across a range of indicators. Political changes such as Brexit, disruptive events such as the response to Covid-19 pandemic, economic conditions such as recession or commodity price changes; all these will exert influence on environmental outcomes in ways that cannot be predicted from environmental data alone. Scaling these impacts from one site to a whole catchment introduces complicatedness as natural (ecology, geology, etc) and human (ownership, capacity, attitude) boundary conditions vary from place to place. To understand and ultimately to manage climate change impacts on eco-cultural systems, we need to be able to sense and monitor at ecosystem scale: we need to develop ‘smart landscapes’.

SHU and the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust (SRWT) have established a partnership of leading environment-sector organisations (Environment Agency, Natural England, Yorkshire Water and Sheffield City Council) around the Upper Don River catchment, South Yorkshire, with a 10-year strategic plan for landscape management to achieve climate resilience, nature recovery and other benefits to society and the economy. This area, the ‘Sheffield Lakeland’ is a multifunctional landscape acting as a water source and flood store for more than a million people downstream; supports an agricultural economy, outdoor recreation and healthy living, private shooting estates and development land; and, on the fringe of a National Park, contains degraded but nationally-important ecosystems at significant risk from environmental change and poor management.

This exciting project will play a central role in the development of a data infrastructure to support decision-making and project delivery to achieve climate resilience in the Sheffield landscape and invites proposals from people who are passionate about the use of smart technologies for fighting climate change.

The main aim of this project will be to research, develop and deploy a smart data management infrastructure to support the different ecological, social, cultural and economic/policy projects around the multifunctional Sheffield Lakeland landscape.

The project will be particularly suited to someone who combines excellent software engineering skills with a deep interest in conservation and environmental management. The successful candidate will work with members of the Sheffield Lakeland Partnership to identify and assemble the datasets and data sources they need to inform their work; and to specify, design and prototype a system which integrates geographical and mapping systems, existing datasets and available national data sources (via API) with a planned network of sensors deployed across the landscape to enhance real-time monitoring, predictive modelling and post-hoc evaluation of environmental interventions informing practical environmental management actions towards goals of climate adaptation, resilience and nature recovery in the Sheffield Lakeland landscape.

Eligibility

Applicants should hold a 1st or 2:1 Honours degree in a related discipline. A Master’s degree in a related area is desirable. We welcome applications from all candidates irrespective of age, pregnancy and maternity, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, or marital or civil partnership status.

International candidates are required to provide an IELTS certificate with a score of at least 7.0 overall, and a minimum of 6.5 in all components. For further information on English Language requirements, please click here.

For further details on entry requirements, please click here.

How to apply

All applications must be submitted using the online application form. To apply, click here. In your application, be sure to include the title of the project that you are applying for.

As part of your application, please upload:

• A research proposal (max. 1500 words) in your own words, briefly outlining the proposed research, the current knowledge and context referencing key background literature; a proposed methodology or approach to answer the key questions, and any potential significance or impact of the research
• Copy of your highest degree certificate
• Non-UK applicants must submit IELTs results (or equivalent) taken in the last two years and a copy of their passport. 

Applicants must provide 2 references, with at least one to be academic. References must be received directly from the referees.

We strongly recommend you contact the lead academic, Carlos Da Silva c.dasilva@shu.ac.uk, to discuss your application.

For information on how to apply please visit https://www.shu.ac.uk/research/degrees