I am an agricultural ecologist with a special research interest in insects. My research focuses on how human activity impacts biodiversity, particularly pollinators. I began by studying the management of UK farmland habitats for beneficial insects, including bees, and went on to establish a Centre for Pollination Studies at Calcutta University in India, where we investigate how agriculture affects both wild and domesticated honey bees. Since then I have been involved in research ranging from pure ecology, to very practical farmer-led studies on pollinator health. I now work at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University.
I am excited to work with beekeepers to ensure hives thrive! I have been a beekeeper since 2012 and this year I will be volunteering in a community apiary.
I am an environmentalist and ecologist with a passion for data! My research focuses on how we can use biodiversity data, in all its many forms, to answer questions about the how plants and animals are impacted by human activities across whole landscapes. I began my career as an informatician in the energy industry, focusing on modernisation of gas networks and generation of renewables. Later in life I joined the academic world and shifted my focus to biodiversity. I now work at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University.
Many of you will have known April who worked with us during the first hectic year of Thriving Hive. She has now moved on to use her excellent botanical skills with the Wildlife Trusts. We thank her for all her work and wish her lots of luck! You can follow her on twitter @AprilWe76706483
Here is what April said about herself:
I have worked as a horticulturist and biological field surveyor, and am interested in researching impacts on biodiversity. In addition to supporting Thriving Hive, I help run a citizen science project (PlantAlert) predicting future invasive plant species originating from the ornamentals industry. I work with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland communications team to promote and record British Flora, and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Habitat Biodiversity Auditing Team to assess and map the county's habitats. I have also been running research into plant biodiversity on allotments to understand the role of these sites in our wider environment, their potential biological pressures, and as a resource to environmental conservation.
My research focuses on insect biodiversity in agro-ecosystems, gardens and allotments. I am particularly interested citizen science and science communication. I have over ten years’ experience delivering garden-based citizen science projects at both Garden Organic and Coventry University. I recently led the Blooms for Bees project which engaged over 3,000 citizen scientists in a project to improve garden plant recommendations to support bumblebees.
I am fascinated by honeybees, and spent a year learning about hive management with the Warwickshire Beekeepers Association. I am particularly interested in beekeeping practices that support healthy honeybee colonies and wild pollinators.
My research interests lay in interdisciplinary areas including chemistry, geochemistry, environmental science, and engineering and material science. My work is largely directed towards understanding the fate of pollutants (e.g., metals/metalloids, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, etc.) in natural-anthropogenic systems, and developing sustainable materials and technologies using concepts of industrial symbiosis and circular economy to tackle the environmental issues.
At the moment, I am working on understanding the fate of submicron- and microplastics in the environment, developing methodologies for microplastics analysis and novel technologies to reduce plastics pollution.
My career has spanned academia, consultancy, parliament and government including a secondment to Defra to develop the Government’s Bioenergy Sustainability Criteria. My academic research examines the interactions and trade-offs between different players in socio-ecological systems. I received a doctorate from Imperial College before going to Oxford in 2011 to study the Indian food system. I was the Research Director of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development from 2014, and joined the University of Edinburgh in 2017.
I am working with the Thriving Hive team to investigate healthy productive beekeeping, and to specifically work with beekeepers in Scotland.
