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 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
Dr Farnon Ellwood (insects, rainforests, oil palm)
Dr Alexander Georgiev (primatology, conservation, ecophysiology)
Dr James Gibbons (statistics, modelling, conservation)
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, governance, economics)
Professor Richard Holland (behaviour, sensory biology, migration)
Professor Stuart Jenkins (marine ecology, anthropogenic impacts, ecosystem management)
Professor Julia Patricia Gordon Jones (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 (herpetofauna, conflict, genetics)
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 Tim Pagella (restoration, socio-ecological systems, gender)
Dr Sopan Patil
Dr Craig Robertson (benthic ecology ,deep sea, ecosystem function)
Dr 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)
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)
Catrin Williams
Dr Gareth Williams (coral reefs, oceanography, climate change)
Dr Wolfgang Wüster (herpetofauna, conservation genomics, venom)
Dr Rosemary Moorhouse-Gann (conservation, restoration, island ecosystems)
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 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)
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
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.