Category: Scotland Conservation SciencePage 1 of 3
In the run-up to the global biodiversity conference, COP15, we present a series of posts in partnership with Scottish Government and NatureScot, showcasing Scotland’s innovative, high-impact research supporting…
This article was written by Isla Kendall, PhD student in the Nature-based Solutions team at RBGE. Rapid urbanisation and the accelerating effects of climate change are significantly altering…
This article was written by Amanda G. Shalit, graduate of the 2025/2026 RBGE Masters programme in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants. This past summer, I spent countless hours…
Hayden Lorimer teaches cultural geography and environmental humanities at University of Edinburgh. His research explores connections between landscape, memory and the geographical imagination. He is the author of…
This is it, the last planting for our project. I feel a mix of pride and sadness bittersweet, really, as we reach this milestone together. In the last…
Habitats, plants, insects, and people—there are constant reminders that the ecosystem is connected in unexpected ways. During the summer of 2025 I surveyed plants and pollinators across 31…
Translocations are, by their very nature, complex and demanding undertakings – something our team knows all too well. Challenges such as logistics, limited time, unpredictable weather, difficult terrain,…
People and nature at the heart of the city
When you think about a “good city,” what comes to mind? Parks and green spaces? Shops and cinemas? Safe streets? Opportunities for everyone? Recently, I had the privilege…
Since May of this year I have had the pleasure of surveying plants and pollinators in central Edinburgh as part of a joint project between the charity Pollinating…
The NRF (Nature Restoration Fund) Scottish Plant Recovery Project at RBGE aims to restore genetically diverse populations of our endangered Scottish native plants around the country. Whilst rewarding,…
On Friday 14 June 2024, RBGE experienced 11mm of rain in the span of 8 minutes. To put into context, a typical rainy day (≥ 1mm precipitation, of…
The UN predicts that two out of three people will live in cities by 2050. But will these cities be good places to live? And can they ‘do good’ to our living planet? Our research project – The Good City – aims to find out…
As COP15 comes to an end, so does our series profiling just a few of the many innovative and impactful scientists working in Scotland to conserve biodiversity at…
Molecular approaches to support forest resilience “Early influences have a profound effect on how our later lives develop,” says Dr Joan Cottrell. “Born to Scottish parents, I was…
Research underpinning the conservation and restoration of Scotland’s montane woodlands. “I am a plant ecologist and early career researcher undertaking a part-time PhD at the University of Stirling,…
Defining the fundamental units of bryophyte conservation. “As a phylogenetic taxonomist working on bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts), I feel I have a responsibility to be a tireless…
Using fundamental ecosystem understanding to inform land management. Dr Tom Parker’s research focuses on the role of plant roots and associated fungi in ecosystem processes such as carbon…
Sharing the data needed for nature’s recovery. As CEO of the National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN Trust), Lisa Chilton is devoted to the charity’s mission of ‘making data…
Fusing ecology and evolution with animal health. “Academia was never the intended plan,” says Professor Dan Haydon, but after becoming obsessively interested in ecological stability and its relationship…
Exploiting plant symbioses is the key to sustainable agriculture. Euan James is a plant and microbial scientist specialising in root-nodulating symbiotic interactions between (mainly) legumes and soil bacteria…