I trained as an evolutionary ecologist at Cambridge University and have over 25 years of research experience in a range of ecosystems across the globe. As a University Research Fellow of the Royal Society, I developed broad research interests in understanding the origins and maintenance of biodiversity and its relationship with global change. My work now focuses on determining the ecological and socioeconomic effectiveness of nature-based solutions to societal challenges, and how to increase the influence of robust biodiversity science on the design and implementation of climate and development policy.

I advise governments, UN agencies, and the private sector on Nature-based Solutions. I am a member of the Adaptation Committee of the UK Climate Change Change Committee, leading on nature, and serve on the Science Advisory Boards of Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, and sit on the Science & Knowledge Committee of the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions.