Professional summary
Jo has over 15 years' experience leading large-scale research projects to investigate biodiversity responses to habitat management, agricultural practices and climate change. Her research focuses on how these abiotic factors affects wildlife, specifically plants and insects, and the interactions between them.
Jo led the landscape-scale response of mobile species to agri-environment schemes project, monitoring the responses of insects, birds and bats to agri-environment management, applied at different spatial scales and across multiple agricultural landscapes in England. Her projects include: research into hedgerow ecology, using multi-site field experiments to test the effects of hedgerow management and rejuvenation on provision of resources for wildlife; hedge structure and invertebrate assemblages; and, monitoring of Higher Level Stewardship agri-environment schemes. She also works on biodiversity responses to regenerative farming and sustainable agriculture.
Prior to UKCEH, Jo worked at Imperial College (2006 - 2009). Together with colleagues at the University of Southampton, she tested the idea that organically grown plants are ‘better defended’ against plant-feeding insects than conventionally grown plants, due to the use of lower concentration, slower release forms of fertiliser. During her PhD at University of Reading (2002-2005), Jo explored the impacts of climate change on invertebrate communities and plant-mediated interactions between foliar and root phytophages.
Jo has supervised PhD students and MRes/MSc research projects, please get in touch if you are interested in doing a project with her or co-supervising one.
