ECR Journeys: Treescapes for People and Nature

This month, The Applied Ecologist is amplifying the voice of early career ecologists from around the world working in the field of applied ecology to help inspire the next generation. In this post, Melissa Minter, Conservation Scientist within the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, shares their story below.  

My background

In my spare time, I love to play board games, (the favourite is Wingspan, of course! ) and dabble in a bit of jam making with the strawberries and redcurrants I grow. I also have a small urban garden which has been transformed into a wildlife garden, and I am now very happy to be hosting leaf-cutter bees, wool carder bees, frogs, and many other species!

Where am I now?

I am a Conservation Scientist at the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science working on the UK Future of Treescapes project, exploring different scenarios and ways to support treescape expansion for people and nature. This interdisciplinary project is led by the RSPB in collaboration with the University of Cardiff and the University of the Highlands and Islands, made up of a team of ecologists and social scientists.

The UK government has pledged to reach Net Zero by 2050, with targets to create 30kha of woodland per year by 2024. However, these national policies (top-down approaches) rarely map neatly onto lower spatial scales (e.g., landscapes, and farms) and could risk alienating local actors and stakeholders. Therefore, our project aims to combine land use scenarios and ecological modelling with participatory scenario planning to investigate this ‘scale-mismatch’ which could be a barrier to effective treescape expansion.

My role on this project is to lead on the modelling side, where I will be creating both national and landscape-scale future land use scenarios. Since starting this role, I have been running national scenarios of treescape and other nature-based solutions across the UK, testing the outcomes on food production, bird populations and greenhouse gas emissions. For our ‘bottom-up’ scenarios, we will be running stakeholder workshops in two upland case study landscapes, the North Pennines and Yorkshire Dales in Northern England, and Elenydd – Mallaen in Wales. Here, stakeholders will create land use scenarios, which I will turn into spatially explicit land use scenarios and predict the outcomes on a number of ecosystem services.

What motivates you?

I’ve always been fascinated by the natural world, and after my undergraduate degree in Geography I knew I wanted to get into conservation and try to contribute to helping nature, so, I went and did a MSc degree in Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Leeds. I absolutely love insects, so when I saw that this degree offered a module in ‘Insect Identification’ I was extremely excited.

Aerial netting to sample high flying insects, © Melissa Minter

After this, I gained a volunteer position at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust as an education trainee, assisting in the events and education at one of their nature reserves. I then worked for a few charities before becoming a research assistant at Rothamsted Research working on the genomics of insect migration, conducting flight-mill experiments on a migratory insect pest, Helicoverpa armigera. During this role I was given the opportunity publish my first first-author paper, which was great experience. We also went out to China to catch these moths in the wild and run flight mill experiments in situ, along with aerial netting to sample high flying insects.

The next 4 years was spent up mountains chasing montane butterflies, modelling species distributions, sequencing DNA and placements with my CASE partners, as part of my PhD at the University of York (with NatureScot and Natural England). Throughout this time, I knew I wanted to continue in research, but I wanted to focus on applied ecology.

After this, I began my first post-doctoral position as a conservation scientist at the RSPB. RSPB is a science-led conservation charity which has its own Centre for Conservation Science made up of 75 scientists working on monitoring, social science and both international and UK-based science projects. RSPB is a fantastic place to work as a scientist, the research has direct impacts on conservation policy and practices within the charity. I’m excited to spend the next 2 years working on an interdisciplinary project investigating important questions about the future of UK land use.

One piece of advice for other ECRs

My journey into research, and applied ecology has not been a direct one! I worked for 3 years after my master’s degree, and it took me 3 years of applying for PhDs to be successful. But for me, these years of working gave me really great experience and helped me develop skills in project management, writing and other scientific methods.

North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, © Melissa Minter

I think always saying “yes” to opportunities is important, and gaining any scientific experience through roles or volunteering I think is extremely valuable. Take opportunities within NGOs or environmental organisations if you can during your PhD or organise placements to gain experience of applied science.