Fully Funded PhD in Biology – Understanding the complexities of biodiversity change

Understanding the complexities of biodiversity change

Primary Supervisor: Dr Ines Martins (Biology)

C-Supervisor: Prof Colin Beale (Biology)

Home department: Biology

Biodiversity is changing throughout the world, but there is remarkably little consensus among scientists about how biodiversity is changing in different locations, at different spatial scales, and over different periods of time. Yet this information is crucial, given the need to develop biodiversity policies that are appropriate for an Earth under widespread human modifications. Scientific discrepancies and uncertainties could arise for a number of reasons. They could hinge on (i) people using different methodological approaches, (ii) the types of data considered (including possible biases) or (iii) there may be ‘real’ differences, given that the multiple dimensions of biodiversity may change in different ways and at different scales The project ‘Understanding the Complex Dynamics of Biodiversity Change’ led by Dr. Inês S. Martins aims to explore these differences through three main approaches: synthesising existing knowledge of change through the analysis of biodiversity research and databases; generating robust evaluations of biodiversity change across time and geographic locations using novel analyses of large databases and case studies; and evaluating the role of environmental driver(s) (such as land use change and climate change) on the changing patterns of species and functional diversity.

In this project, you will use global data bases of different types (e.g. long-term recording at particular locations, and comparisons of more-versus-less transformed environments at a given time) to assess the impacts of past, current, and future human interventions and/or policy directives (e.g. protected areas, water protection act, restoration law) on biodiversity. You will:

-Analyse existing multi-taxa time-series of species diversity and abundance at large geographical scale, as well as space-for-time datasets.

-Test the scope, applicability and biases of both approaches and the underlying data empirically available when assessing the effectiveness of different types of policy interventions.

-Have the opportunity to explore regional and/or local scale case studies to address specific conservation challenges.

The specific details of the project will be developed in collaboration with the student, depending on the student’s interests and expertise. This project offers an opportunity to work on pressing and large-scale conservation questions using big databases and applying diverse modelling approaches; thus providing an opportunity to develop important transferable skills (e.g. enhanced computational, coding, statistical and spatial analysis (GIS) skills).

The student will join the research group of Dr. Inês Martins who is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and you will be based at the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity (LCAB) at the University of York. The student will also have the opportunity to interact with other PhD students and researchers across departments and institutions, and we will support you with additional training as required.

Person specification / Eligibility

We are looking for a student who is motivated to test the effectiveness of environmental policies, and with enthusiasm for measuring biodiversity change and community ecology. You will enjoy the challenge of data analysis to answer global environmental questions: R or similar coding is essential. Computational and statistical skills including GIS are preferred. A degree in biological, ecological, environmental, computational, data or climate sciences is preferred, but other quantitative or natural sciences disciplines are suitable.

How to apply

Submit an application for a PhD in Biology. With your application, you will need to submit a 1-page proposal outlining how you would approach the research project.

PhD programme: PhD in Biology 4 years

Closing date: 3rd March 2025

Interviews: will take place in February/March 2025. Interviews will be carried out by the project lead supervisor(s), LCAB Centre Manager and an independent academic.

Start date for PhD: 15th September 2025