Professional summary

Laurence has over 26 years’ research experience with an international reputation in the areas of ecosystem services, pollution, and coastal ecology.

His work on ecosystem services concentrates on modelling the benefits that our natural capital provides to society, with a particular focus on urban systems. He has an interest in developing and improving ecosystem service models and the interactions between people and the environment that shape those benefits.

He oversees the cross-cutting theme of urban research in UKCEH. He has led work on ecosystem services modelling in seven European projects in collaboration with partners worldwide, and numerous UKRI funded projects for NERC, EPSRC and ESRC. He has helped develop natural capital accounts for urban ecosystem services covering air pollution removal, cooling, noise mitigation, tourism and water storage in the landscape, as well as developing damage costs for air pollution impacts on ecosystem services.

He presents his research internationally and nationally to scientists and policy makers. He has authored/co-authored >115 papers, including in Nature family journals, 15 book chapters and national/international assessments, and >130 reports. He has supervised 12 PhDs to completion, with a further 7 PhDs currently registered.

Web tools and apps

Laurence has helped design the City Explorer Toolkit https://www.ceh.ac.uk/city-explorer 

and the air pollution removal tool https://shiny-apps.ceh.ac.uk/pollutionremoval/ 

Selected publications

Jones Laurence et al. , (2022), A typology for urban green infrastructure to guide multifunctional planning of nature-based solutions. Nature-Based Solutions, 2, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2022.100041

Jones Laurence et al. , (2022), Airsheds, watersheds and more – the flows that drive intra-extra-urban connections, and their implications for nature-based solutions (NBS). Nature-Based Solutions, 2, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2022.100040

Fletcher David H. et al. , (2022), Location, location, location: modelling of noise mitigation by urban woodland shows the benefit of targeted tree planting in cities. Sustainability, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14127079

Fletcher David H. et al. , (2021), Using demand mapping to assess the benefits of urban green and blue space in cities from four continents. Science of the Total Environment, 785, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147238

Palmer Andrew K. et al. , (2023), Towards an understanding of quality and inclusivity in human‐environment experiences. Geography Compass, 17, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12723

Fitch Alice et al. , (2022), Under the influence of nature: the contribution of natural capital to tourism spend. PLoS ONE, 17, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269790

Jones Laurence et al. , (2021), Can we model cultural ecosystem services, and are we measuring the right things?. People and Nature, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10271

Jones Laurence et al. , (2019), Urban natural capital accounts: developing a novel approach to quantify air pollution removal by vegetation. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21606544.2019.1597772

Rhymes Jennifer et al. , (2014), Evidence for sensitivity of dune wetlands to groundwater nutrients. 490, 106-113, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.029

Aggenbach Camiel J.S. et al. , (2016), Does atmospheric nitrogen deposition lead to greater nitrogen and carbon accumulation in coastal sand dunes?. Biological Conservation, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.12.007