IAFRI PhD Studentship in Agriculture - Investigating the Impact of Biodiversity Funding on Tree Survival in Non-woodland Contexts through Environmental Testing

Award Summary

100% home fees covered and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £17,668 (2022-23 UKRI rate).

Overview

This PhD will analyse the impact of the monetisation of biodiversity, such as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), on tree planting and maintenance decisions in non-woodland contexts such as along infrastructural linear features, on brownfield sites and as part of development. Environmental and soil testing will be used to estimate trees survival, resilience and growth potential.

BNG is a new policy that aims to embed biodiversity uplift in development and creates a market “price” for biodiversity. It uses the Biodiversity Metric which is based on the use of habitat area, condition and distinctiveness as a proxy for biodiversity. However, the monetisation of biodiversity has the potential to create perverse incentives, including for tree health and survival.

This proposal is an inquiry into the monetisation of biodiversity and its impact on tree health outside of woodlands, particularly in development contexts. The methodology will include secondary analysis of existing data such as environmental impact assessments as well as environmental sampling and social research methods for targeted case studies.

The final research design will be developed with the PhD candidate during the first year. The ideal student will be confident working with an interdisciplinary team and deploying a range of methodologies (supported with training), and have a background in environmental science, applied ecology or equivalent.

Number of awards: 1

Start date: 18^th September 2023

Award duration: 3 years

Sponsor

Institute for AgriFood Research Innovations (IAFRI) & Newcastle University (NU)

Supervisors

Glyn Jones (Fera) and Elisa Lopez-Capel (NU)

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant subject (e.g. biology, ecology, soil science etc.).

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

The studentship covers fees at the Home rate (UK and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status and meet the residency criteria). International applicants are welcome to apply but will be required to cover the difference between Home and International fees.

How to apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study: 

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8010F
• Research Area: Rural Development
• Select ‘PhD Agriculture and Rural Development (full time) – Rural Development’ as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form.
• The studentship code SNES238B in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field.
• When prompted regarding your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

Contact Details

For further information please contact: glyn.d.jones@fera.co.uk and include ‘IAFRI PhD’ in the email subject line.

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