Dr. Lisa Norton

Lisa is a landscape ecologist and interdisciplinary scientist carrying out research into options for land management which can help in the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. She has been involved with the UK Countryside Survey for many years and considers its collection of data on habitats, landscape features, vegetation, soils and water across spatial and temporal scales invaluable for identifying relationships between different ecosystem components and with drivers of change. She is interested in understanding how ecological processes underpin these relationships at landscape scales and in finding ways of evidencing the complexity of ecosystem processes in order to help manage landscapes effectively.

Key issues driving her research include: continuing degradation of biodiversity; the agricultural and ecological viability of farming systems; and, the need for transdisciplinary approaches involving social and ecological scientists alongside stakeholders to understand the 'social and institutional' aspects of land management. What land use approaches will provide us with the sustainable delivery of multiple ecosystem services and how do we effect change?