Understanding the social and environmental impacts of multiple drivers of global and local change in Africa requires systemic and longitudinal place-based research. Landscapes provide the ‘ideal’ unit for this purpose, as well as for applying sustainable solutions that tackle complex—sometimes wicked—development and environmental challenges. Through a landscape approach, it is possible to explore the interaction between multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs), enabling understanding of the impacts of change and risk on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and livelihoods, as well as the implementation of locally appropriate and integrated response options. Indeed, landscape approaches have been widely promoted by government agencies, NGOs, and [...]

Assessing the role of scientists within conservation management agencies. We are offering a PhD scholarship to work with an international team led by Dr Carly Cook at Monash University (School of Biological Sciences) in Australia. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with research interests in the integration of conservation science into management action for an exciting project investigating the role of scientists within conservation management agencies. The project: Conservation agencies are increasingly aiming to achieve evidence-based management. In order to support this goal, there is a growing focus on mechanisms for knowledge exchange that can help support the [...]