Professional summary

John’s research at UKCEH focuses on understanding how we can use land more sustainably, in terms of protecting both the environment and the benefits that humans derive from it. John specialises in discovering spatial patterns and exploring how spatial context affects ecological processes, at spatial scales ranging from individual agricultural fields to whole landscapes. He uses Geographic Information Systems and statistical models to analyse mapped data and has expertise in a wide variety of mapped data sources, from historic surveys to the most recent images from satellites. 

John has a BSc Biology from Durham University (2007) and an MRes Ecology and Environmental Management from the University of York (2008). He started his research career at UKCEH in 2009, working on monitoring of farmland biodiversity and spatial analysis of habitats. In 2020, he completed a PhD on spatial modelling of insect delivered ecosystem services, affiliated with the University of Reading. He currently manages a team of spatial ecologists and data scientists and plays a leading role in various projects on sustainable agriculture, sustainable management of landscapes and the impacts of environmental change.

Web tools and apps

John has worked to translate his research data, models and research into tools that farmers and policymakers can use to inform decision making.  These include:

Selected publications

Redhead John W. et al. , (2022), E-Planner: a web-based tool for planning environmental enhancement on British agricultural land. Environmental Modelling & Software, 155, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105437

Goodwin Cecily E.D. et al. , (2022), Multi-tier archetypes to characterise British landscapes, farmland and farming practices. Environmental Research Letters, 17, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac810e

Finch Tom et al. , (2021), Evaluating spatially explicit sharing‐sparing scenarios for multiple environmental outcomes. Journal of Applied Ecology, 58, 655-666, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13785

Redhead John W. et al. , (2020), The influence of landscape composition and configuration on crop yield resilience. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57, 2180-2190, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13722

Redhead John W. et al. , (2020), Effects of future agricultural change scenarios on beneficial insects. Journal of Environmental Management, 265, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110550

Redhead John W. et al. , (2018), Potential landscape-scale pollinator networks across Great Britain: structure, stability and influence of agricultural land cover. Ecology Letters, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.13157

Redhead John W. et al. , (2018), National scale evaluation of the InVEST nutrient retention model in the United Kingdom. Science of the Total Environment, 610-611, 666-677, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.092

Woodcock B.A. et al. , (2017), Country-specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on honey bees and wild bees. Science, 356, 1393-1395, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa1190

Carvell Claire et al. , (2017), Bumblebee family lineage survival is enhanced in high-quality landscapes. Nature, 543, 547-549, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature21709