Senior Research Associate: Plants, Enslavement, and Public History

The role

The School of Humanities invites applications for a postdoctoral Senior Research Associate (SRA) specialising in environmental histories of enslavement to support the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, “Plants, Enslavement, and Public History: Re-imagining green spaces as places of heritage and healing” (2024-2028). The SRA will work with the Principal Investigator, Dr Jessica Moody in running and delivering this fellowship and will be part of a collaborative team which also includes a second Senior Research Associate (who started in March 2025), a Project Manager, and project partners including a Project Curator.

Working in partnership with the National Trust for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the International National Trusts Organisation, the fellowship aims to explore historical connections between plants, people and histories of enslavement, analyse the public memory of plants and enslavement at heritage sites around the Atlantic, work towards an ethical praxis of care by developing appropriate methods of research and practice, revealing the commemorative potential of plants and green heritage spaces. Working with partners, the project will develop test interpretation at partner sites.

This is a full-time role for a fixed period of three years to start from October 1^st 2025. The role will require regular in person meetings in Bristol and at Heelis (National Trust, Swindon), travel to relevant archives and travel to National Trust sites.

What will you be doing?

You will

• Lead work package 2: ‘Plants as counter-memory of enslavement’ researching historical connections between plants and histories of enslavement
• Undertake a 0.4 (2 days per week) secondment with the National Trust developing networks, facilitating communication and undertaking scoping research
• Carry out original archival research around plants, gardens and histories of enslavement especially as these relate to partner sites
• Work closely with the Project Curator and wider project team to support the delivery of test interpretation emerging from the project
• Produce publications and present research and communications to a broad audience

You should apply if

• You have a PhD in History or a relevant arts and/or humanities field
• You have experience and expertise in environmental histories of enslavement
• You have experience and expertise with seventeenth and eighteenth century archival sources and undertaking country house history
• You can communicate with people working across different sectors (especially academic and heritage sectors), locally, nationally and internationally
• You can work collaboratively and manage your own workload and research direction as appropriate

In their cover letter, applicants should show how the Plants, Enslavement and Public History project can support the new National Trust strategy.

Additional information

For informal enquiries, please contact Jessica Moody (Jessica.moody@bristol.ac.uk) by email only

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