Urbanisation is one of the most dramatic and rapidly increasing forms of land-use change with marked adverse impacts on biodiversity, and human-wildlife interactions. Despite this, urban areas can support important populations of threatened species. Domestic gardens typically comprise ~50% of green-space in many cities and thus have exceptional potential to support biodiversity. Some gardens are managed superbly for wildlife, yet most gardens fall well short of this potential. Numerous social, physical, educational, financial and motivational constraints can prevent households from managing gardens in a wildlife-friendly manner.
The overall goal of this studentship is to promote the development of more wildlife-friendly gardening practices to enhance urban biodiversity and the benefits that gardens provide to people. Specifically, the studentship will quantify the constraints, barriers and motivations influencing wildlife-friendly gardening practices, and how they vary across household types. These data will then be used to design and test interventions designed to increase wildlife-friendly practices and their outcomes. The successful student will achieve this through an inter-disciplinary focus combining ecological knowledge and social science research techniques.
The student will join Dr Karl Evans’ inter-disciplinary conservation science research team (University of Sheffield). Karl was awarded the Ecological Society of America sustainability science award for research on urban green-space management. His PhD students often publish in high quality journals, e.g. Global Change Biology and PNAS. The student will spend time working with co-supervisors at the University of York (as part of Piran White’s research group within the York Environmental Sustainability Institute) and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust as an integral part of their PhD.
The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in inter-disciplinary ecological/conservation research focused on finding solutions to improving garden management for biodiversity, and have attributes facilitating collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders. Contact [Email Address Removed] for more information.
Start date: 1st October 2023
This PhD project is part of the NERC funded Doctoral Training Partnership “ACCE” (Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment. ACCE is a partnership between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, York, CEH, and NHM, for more information about ACCE and how to apply please visit the website: https://accedtp.ac.uk/
The ACCE DTP is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or religious belief, pregnancy or maternity, parental or caring responsibilities or career pathway to date. We understand that a student’s potential can be shown in many ways and we strive to recruit students from all backgrounds, and support them on their scientific journey.
We have designed our application systems to identify candidates who are likely to be successful in research regardless of what opportunities may have been available to them prior to their application.
How to apply:
All applicants to ACCE must complete the ACCE personal statement proforma. This is instead of a normal personal/supporting statement/cover letter. The proforma is designed to standardise this part of the application to minimise the difference between those who are given support and those who are not. The proforma and more information on the ACCE application process can be found here: https://accedtp.ac.uk/how-to-apply/
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