The world is facing interlinked nature and climate emergencies. The conservation and restoration of resilient ecosystems have a central role to play in tackling both.
Our highly interdisciplinary research in this area brings together researchers from across the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences and the School of Ocean Sciences and from disciplines as varied as ecology, land system science, oceanography, remote sensing, physiology, behaviour, forestry, economics and policy.
We carry out cutting-edge research in a full range of terrestrial and marine habitats, from polar regions to the tropics. Our research is highly impactful. For example, our research on the impacts of bottom trawling, advancing agroforestry, and reducing the social costs of conservation in low-income countries contributed to Bangor University being ranked number one in the UK for the impact of our environmental science research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
Our research facilities in this area are world-beating and include our ocean-going research vessel the Prince Madog, the Henfaes research farm, and Treborth Botanic Gardens
Featured researchers
Full researcher list
- Dr Aaron Comeault (evolution, conservation genomics, invasive species)
- Professor Simon Creer (molecular ecology, biodiversity)
- Dr Farnon Ellwood (ecology, biodiversity, ecosystem function)
- Dr Alexander Georgiev (primatology, conservation, ecophysiology)
- Dr James Gibbons (agriculture, greenhouse gases, biodiversity)
- Professor Robert Griffiths (microbes, soil functions, resistance mechanisms)
- Professor John Healey (ecology, forestry, conservation)
- Professor Jan Geert Hiddink (fisheries, seabed ecosystems, bottom trawling)
- Dr Neal Hockley (land, conservation, governance)
- Professor Richard Holland (animal behaviour, animal cognition, zoology)
- Professor Stuart Jenkins (marine ecology, anthropogenic impacts, ecosystem management)
- Professor Julia Patricia Gordon Jones (biodiversity conservation, impact evaluation)
- Jonathan King
- Dr Ewa Krzyszczyk (behaviour, marine animals, conservation)
- Dr Lewis Le Vay
- Dr Mark Mainwaring (impact of weather, nests and eggs, urbanisation)
- Dr Shelagh Malham
- Dr Anita Malhotra (snakes, Asia, species delimitation)
- Dr Lars Markesteijn
- Dr Tom Martin (conservation, zoology, biogeography)
- Dr Ian McCarthy (behaviour, physiological ecology, conservation)
- Professor Morag McDonald (ecology, forestry, agroforestry)
- Dr Kirsty McLeod
- Dr Eefke Mollee (agroforestry, food security, urban forestry)
- Dr Rosemary Moorhouse-Gann (conservation, restoration, island ecosystems)
- Dr Tim Pagella (restoration, socio-ecological systems, gender)
- Dr Sopan Patil
- Dr Craig Robertson (benthic ecology ,deep sea, ecosystem function)
- Peter Robins (estuaries, hydrodynamics, modelling)
- Dr Graeme Shannon (behaviour, ecology, conservation)
- Dr Marielle Smith (forest ecosystems, remote sensing, global change)
- Dr Freya St John (conservation, social sciences, human behaviour)
- Dr Katherine Steele (genetics, breeding, sustainability)
- Dr Alex Sutton (climate change, population ecology, community ecology)
- Dr William Teahan (artificial intelligence, data science, simulation and modelling)
- Dr Svenja Tidau (marine biology, anthropogenic impacts, sensory ecology)
- Professor George Turner
- Professor John Turner
- Dr Katrien Van Landeghem (seabed integrity, habitat suitability, glacial legacy)
- Dr Eleanor Warren-Thomas (conservation, biodiversity, agroforestry)
- Professor Simon Willcock (resilience, social-ecological systems, ecosystem services)
- Dr Gareth Williams (coral reefs, oceanography, climate change)
- Dr Wolfgang Wüster (herpetofauna, conservation genomics, venom)
- Dr Peter M. Haswell (conservation, ecology, environmental ethics)
- Dr Tyler Hallman (landscape ecology, community (citizen) science, conservation)
- Professor Simon Willock (ecosystem services, resilience, agriculture)
- Dr Winnie Courtene-Jones (plastic pollution, anthropogenic impacts, marine biology)
- Dr Benjamin Jarrett (invasive species, ecosystem services)
- Dr Katherine Steele (genetics, breeding, sustainability)
- Dr Rhea Burton (movement ecology, behaviour, zoo biology)
- Professor Iestyn Pierce (wireless sensing of environmental variables)
- Dr Panagiotis Ritsos (information visualization, visual analytics, mixed and virtual reality, human-computer interaction)
- Dr Tim Peters (forestry, plant microbe symbiosis, tree nursery sustainability)
- Dr Nathalie Fenner (peatlands, mangroves, algae)
- Dr Alex Papadopulos (conservation genetics)
- Dr Mark Mainwaring (impact of weather, nests and eggs, urbanisation)
- Sophie Berenice Wilmes
- Dr Elena Cini (conservation, ecology, social science)
- Charlotte Colvin
- Dr Norman Dandy (land, governance, society)
- Dr Leejiah Dorward (conservation, social sciences, human behaviour)
- Dr Tom Galley (sustainable aquaculture, bivalve biology, reef fish)
- Charlotte Heney
- Dr Harriet Ibbett (conservation, social sciences, human behaviour)
- Dr Nick Jones (sustainable aquaculture, molluscan biology, reef fish)
- Dr Jessica Kevill
- Dr Amy (Spike) Lewis (conservation, human behaviour, socio-ecological systems)
- Lilian Lieber
- Dr Kirsty MacLeod
- Dr Alec Moore (historical ecology, fisheries, elasmobranchs)
- Dr Liz Morris-Webb
- Dr Edwin Pynegar (impact evaluation, conservation, forests)
- Dr William Schneider (behaviour, ecology, migration)
- Dr Vahid Seydi (machine learning, data science, artificial intelligence)
- Ping Shang Xu
- Dr Morwenna Spear
- Danielle Spring
- Jamie Thorpe (aquaculture, climate change, molecular ecology)
- Bex Turner
- Gemma Veneruso
- Dr Sophie Ward (oceanography, climate change, ocean modelling)
- Anna Wood (forest restoration, molecular ecology, forests )
- Dr Seumas Bates (anthropology, forestry, AI)
- Dr Daisuke Goto (ecosystem-approach to fisheries, stock assessment, management strategy evaluation)
- Dr David Fidler (microbial ecology, soil)
- Dr Craig Shuttleworth (red squirrel conservation)
- Dr Simon Valle (conservation planning, population dynamics, conservation ecology)
- Dr Sophie Williams (plant conservation, botanic gardens, socio-ecological systems)
- Patrick Allsop (dispersal, plasticity, anthropogenic disturbance)
- Jack Atkin-Willoughby (forester, conservationist, outdoor instructor )
- Rebecca Bracegirdle
- Claire Carrington (seabirds, behaviour, meterology)
- Katie Devenish (conservation, mining, impacts)
- Penny Downes (conservation, human-wildlife interactions, behaviour)
- Ffion Evans (agriculture, circularity, policy)
- Lisa Goberdhan
- Deanna Groom (underwater archaeology, ecosystems, climate change)
- Alice Lawrence (spatial ecology, reef fish, management)
- Ben Owens
- Ivonne Liliana Salamanca Leon (conservation, ecology, impact evaluation)
- Saniye Smith (marine policy, co-management, fisheries)
- Marie Touchon (marine conservation, socioeconomics, mangroves)
- Catrin Williams
- Lauren Evans (behavioural ecology, molecular ecology, oceanography)
- Rose Pugh (molecular ecology, evolution, amphibians)
- Sarah Al-Jutaili (fisheries , environment, shellfish)
- Amelia Corvin-Czarnodolski (seabirds, diet, eDNA)
- Lorna McKellar (marine status assessment)
- Charlie Gregory (population genetics, bioinformatics, conservation)
- Jonathan Heath (marine, ecology, benthic)
- Ankita Bhattacharya (estuaries, flooding, groundwater)
- Abi Cousins (climate change, anthropogenic pollution, wetlands)
- Nisabhat Tonwoot (forest certification, forest management, FSC certification)
- Daisy Alston (carbon storage, subsoils carbon dynamics, agriculture)
- Patrick Allsop (anthropogenic disturbance, behavioural plasticity)
- Siyang Ren (soil environment, microplastics, source analysis)
- Iain Lettice
- Stevie Scanlan
- Lauren Sansom
- Emma Green
Key projects
Researchers in this theme work on a wide variety of applied projects.
Key projects
Researchers in this theme work on a wide variety of applied projects.
See our work as our researchers see it
A picture says a thousand words - so please enjoy the gallery of some of the examples of the work we are involved in
Postgraduate Research Project Highlights
Our cutting-edge PGR projects are driving innovation across fields by exploring transformative ideas, advancing knowledge, and offering real-world solutions.
At Bangor research underpins the teaching that we do – you can study a wide variety of courses, at all levels, which build on the world-leading research we are doing which relates to the conservation and restoration of resilient ecosystems.
At Bangor research underpins the teaching that we do – you can study a wide variety of courses, at all levels, which build on the world-leading research we are doing which relates to the conservation and restoration of resilient ecosystems.