Land and Life

We are an interdisciplinary group, united by our mission to understand the interactions between human societies and landscapes, and how these can be governed for the benefit of humans and biodiversity. We have expertise across the social and natural sciences, with members working on issues relating to biodiversity and conservation, food and agricultural systems, climate change, land use, values, and environmental governance. We have an interest in development and Decolonising perspectives. We work both in the UK and in countries worldwide. 

Our work revolves around four main themes:

• Natural resources – renewable and non-renewable (agri-food systems, mining/extractive industries, forestry, etc.), with a sub-focus on food security and resilience;
• Biodiversity – stewardship and conservation from ecological and social perspectives, with research on interactions with ecosystem services, livelihoods, and politics;
• Climate and development – how natural resources and biodiversity intersect with climate and implications for livelihoods and development, with a particular focus on adaptation, mitigation, and justice;
• Environmental values and decision-making processes – understanding and informing environmental politics, policy, and governance across different scales, as well as the underlying values and outcomes for natural resource management. 

Our members use a variety of research methods across the quantitative-to-qualitative spectrum, often developing novel interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that enable us to integrate local and traditional knowledge, with direct impacts on development practice and decision making. For more information about our members’ expertise, please visit our members’ pages.

To support new research, we are continually developing new interdisciplinary partnerships across and outside of the University. Within the University, our members actively participate in the activities of water@leeds, the Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere & Forest (LEAF) Centre, and the Researchers in Development PhD Network (RiDNet). Many of our members are also part of the Global Food and Environment Institute (GFEI), the Centre for African Studies at the University of Leeds (LUCAS), the Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI), and the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures. Our group members are involved in several of the wider School research themes, including "Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation" and "Environmental Processes, Management, and Policy". Outside of the University, our partnerships include those in the UK (e.g. through the White Rose University Consortium) and worldwide (e.g., FSNet Africa, the Omo-Turkana Research Network, and Wageningen University, the Netherlands). We also contribute to the activities of a wide range of policy bodies, such as the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Natural England, and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). 

Through such collaborations, we undertake projects ranging from UK Research Council projects, to large multinational interdisciplinary EU-funded projects, to donor and research consortium projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We have also been highly successful in securing competitive funding for independent research.

Further information 

View all members of our research group, our recent projects, and publications. 

PhD projects 

We have opportunities for prospective postgraduate researchers. Find out more. 
 
Contact us 

For any queries, please contact Dr Alice Damiano, Professor Claire Quinn, or Dr Jenny Hodbod.