Nature-based Solutions Initiative
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
Core Team
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Nathalie Seddon, PhD
Director
I am Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford with broad interests in understanding the origins and maintenance of biodiversity and its relationship with global change. An evolutionary ecologist by training, my research now focusses on determining the ecological and socioeconomic effectiveness of nature-based solutions to societal challenges, and how best to increase the influence of robust biodiversity and ecosystem science on the design and implementation of climate and development policy. In 2017, I founded and now direct the Nature-based Solutions Initiative. I am also is a Senior Associate of the International Institute for Environment and Development and a Senior Fellow of the Oxford MartinSchool. -
Alexandre Chausson, MSc
Senior Researcher
I have a background in ecology and conservation biology and have worked in Central America and sub-Saharan, including research on bushmeat supply chains in Congo-Brazzaville and human-wildlife conflict mitigation in Kenya. I also hold over two years of editorial experience in publishing, including as a journal manager for Frontiers in Switzerland. I am now based in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford where I work at the research and policy interface to promote social and ecological resilience in a changing world. -
Cécile A.J. Girardin, PhD
Technical and Artistic Director
I combine years of experience in climate change policy analysis with a background in tropical ecology and forest ecosystem functioning, and have a passion for data analysis, design/illustration and science communication. My current research focuses on ecosystem functioning and carbon dynamics in tropical forests, and their responses to a rapidly changing climate. I am based in the Oxford University School of Geography and the Environment (Ecosystems Lab, Global Ecosystems Monitoring network). -
Beth Turner, MSc
Researcher
I am a biologist with expertise in tropical biodiversity and ecosystems, community ecology and human-ecological relationships. I am particularly interested in how to apply this knowledge to support ecosystem integrity and societal wellbeing. For these reasons I am happy to be a part of the Nature-Based Solutions Initiative, to contribute towards promoting the use of healthy ecosystems to increase our resilience to anthropogenic changes. -
Pam Berry, PhD
Senior Associate
I am a geographer by training, but I have worked on environmental issues throughout my academic career. Firstly, on climate change impacts on biodiversity and conservation and policy responses. More recently on assessing ecosystem services in various contexts, including urban green infrastructure, before extending this to nature-based solutions, which I see as vital for addressing the environmental challenges that we face. I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford and I was the Rapporteur for the EU report on Nature-based solutions. -
Nicole Chabaneix, MSc
Researcher
I am a biologist, specialized in ecology and conservation (BA) and in social-ecological resilience (MSc). I have 6 years of professional experience working on climate change and sustainable development research, policy and project management, with roles at WWF and the Ministry of Environment in my home country of Peru. My current work is focused on advancing ecosystem-based adaptation and other nature-based solutions for enhanced social-ecological resilience in the face of climate change. -
Isabel Key, BA
Researcher and Coordinator
I have a strong interest in tackling climate change, in particular through Nature-based Solutions and education. Currently, at the NBSI I am working on outreach, helping to organise the upcoming conference, and contributing to an evidence synthesis on NbS for adaptation to climate change in tropical and sub-tropical forests. I recently graduated from the University of Cambridge in Natural Sciences, specializing in ecology and conservation.
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Alison Smith, MSc
Senior Associate
I am a natural scientist with 20 years of experience as an environmental consultant, specialising in climate policy. For the last five years I have been a researcher at the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment, where I am developing and testing practical methods of mapping and measuring natural capital and the ecosystem services it provides. My main interest is in the synergies and trade-offs between different approaches to tackling societal challenges, and I see nature-based solutions and green infrastructure as having a strong role to play in providing multiple benefits for climate adaptation, mitigation, biodiversity and human well-being. -
Belinda McFaden, PhD
Associate
I am an environmental governance specialist with a PhD in environmental policy analysis from the Vrije University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. My research interests include policy experimentation and adaptive governance, and I'm a big advocate of nature-based solutions to solve most, if not all, our environmental problems. I currently work as a chapter scientist for the IPCC's AR6 WGII chapter on Australasia. -
Md Monirul Islam, PhD
Associate
I am an environmental scientist with strong expertise and interest in climate change impact and adaptation, and the human dimensions of fisheries and aquaculture. I am a Professor in the Department of Fisheries, University of Dhaka, a visiting research fellow of the University of Oxford and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, and an Associate of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy University of Leeds & LSE. -
Rachel Cavanagh, PhD
Senior Associate
I am a senior research scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, with almost twenty years’ experience in scientific research, international programme management, and the provision of technical advice for policy. An ecologist by training, my research is cross-disciplinary linking climate science and ecology to address the challenges in understanding and managing changing marine ecosystems. -
Stephen Woroniecki
Research Associate
Stephen Woroniecki is finalising his PhD at LUCSUS - Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, in Sweden. The focus of his thesis is Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Sri Lanka. Specifically he explores the potential of such solutions to facilitate the empowerment of the most climate-vulnerable groups.
Become a team member
We are on the look-out for people to support our work collating and translating evidence for Nature-based Solutions, as well to conduct applied research at the interface of climate, biodiversity and human well-being. Please get in touch if you would like to join us.
Contact usOxford University collaborators
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Jim Hall
Jim is Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks in the School of Geography and the Environment at Oxford University. His research focuses upon management of climate-related risks on infrastructure, in particular in relation to water security, including flooding and water scarcity. -
Andy Hector
Andy is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Oxford. He is a community ecologist interested in biodiversity loss and its consequences for the stability and functioning of ecosystems and the provision of ecological services. -
Louise Slater
Louise is Associate Professor in the School of Geography and the Environment (University of Oxford), a fellow of Hertford College, and Chair of the Oxford Water Network. She develops computational, ensemble-based and data-driven approaches for understanding and projecting fluvial and hydroclimatic change in the context of changing land cover and climate. -
Cameron Hepburn
Cameron Hepburn is the Director of the Economics of Sustainability Programme, based at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. He is also Director and Professor of Environmental Economics at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, a Fellow at New College, Oxford, and a Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics. -
EJ Milner-Gulland
EJ is Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford. Previously she was Professor of Conservation Science at Imperial College London, and she has also held held lectureships in Resource Economics and Mathematical Ecology. Her PhD, at Imperial College London, was on the wildlife trade, with a focus on ivory, rhino horn and saiga antelopes. Her research group is the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, which has a wide range of research projects within conservation science. These include developing and applying methods for understanding, predicting, and influencing human behaviour in the context of local resource use in developing countries. -
Michael Obersteiner
Michael is Director of the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography, having recently moved from his post as Director at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Luxembourg, Austria. He leads large scale interdisciplinary research projects in the fields of integrated assessment of climate, energy and land-use. Currently, he serves in UNEP’s international resource panel, is lead convening author of two IPBES chapters and a steering member to UNISDR’s Global Assessment report.