Skip to main content

Ecology

We conduct cutting-edge research in pure and applied ecology, with a focus on tackling global challenges.

We are an interdisciplinary research group with an international reputation for world-leading research in terrestrial and marine ecology. With access to experimental farms, a Molecular Diagnostics Facility, dedicated marine laboratories and The Princess Royal Research Vessel, we are uniquely equipped for tackling global challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Research in the Ecology group covers five cross-cutting themes: Ecosystem Health, Conservation, Biodiversity and Evolution, Sustainable Food Systems; Ecosystem Services & Evidence Synthesis, and Adapting to Environmental Change.

Our expertise in field biology, laboratory diagnostics and genomics, modelling and evidence synthesis makes us a trusted partner for policy-makers and industry, and our work directly impacts national and international policy in resource use and biodiversity conservation. This informs our research-led teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Logo of Newcastle University Ecology Research Group

Our research

Our group conducts research in ecology and evolution, with a focus on examining how the relationship between humanity and the natural world is changing, and how we might develop and maintain a sustainable Earth.

With expertise in both marine and terrestrial environments, we are investigating diverse topics from coral reef restoration and the conservation of marine megafauna through to sustainable agriculture and resilient global food systems.

We work across the spectrum, from fundamental ecological science to application and translation into management and policy.

Our expertise

Examples include:

  • working towards effective protected area networks and mitigation of anthropogenic mortalities (e.g. fisheries bycatch)
  • developing sustainable agro-ecosystems
  • examining the loss of ecological functions (such as pollinators, top predators, fisheries, coastal protection and amenity values)
  • understanding the consequences of environmental change on the resilience of ecological networks
  • how natural environmental systems can, or should be, valued
  • the development and application of new technology (e.g. DNA-metabarcoding, Big Data, Machine LEarning) to assist analysis, monitoring, restoration and conservation of the natural environment

 

Our themes

Ecosystem Health

As global ecosystems face pressure from environmental change and anthropogenic disturbance, monitoring, maintaining and restoring ecosystem health is an urgent priority. Our research spans ecological restoration, biomonitoring and assisted evolution across a broad spectrum of ecological systems.

Conservation, Biodiversity and Evolution

Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, our work is addressing global challenges by using and developing the fundamental science to provide evidence and solutions to policy-makers, industry and other end-users.

Sustainable Food Systems

Our expertise in agro-ecology is making a significant contribution to advancement of sustainable agriculture and resilience of global food systems. We use advances in molecular biology and systems-based approaches to understand and manage multifunctional land use and ecosystem service trade-offs.

Ecosystem Services & Evidence Synthesis

Ecosystem services provide a wide array of benefits to humans, but optimising these requires an understanding of the processes underlying them. Our research provides the fundamental science that underpins Natural Capital assessments, with a current focus on Biodiversity Net Gain.

Adapting to Environmental Change

Environmental change threatens ecological communities, populations and processes, and mitigation requires an understanding of how ecosystems respond. Our research explores how climate change and disturbances like land-use change and light pollution affect biodiversity, with a focus on mitigation.

Our researchers

Staff members

You may also like...

Our people
About us
Get in touch