Invasive brown rats threaten seabird populations on the Isles of Scilly, an internationally important habitat. Domestic food waste is a critical food source for the brown rats: localizing its management offers enormous potential for protecting the Isles’ biodiversity.
Join an interdisciplinary team working to tackle this complex, urgent problem.
The Isles of Scilly are an internationally important habitat for seabirds. However, populations are threatened by invasive brown rats that predate on eggs and chicks. Domestic food waste is an important food source for this rat population.
Food waste management is critical to effectively protecting biodiversity and forms a central role in the Islands’ Seabird Recovery Partnership. Localizing this management potentially reduces emissions from waste transport, reduces disposal costs for residents and businesses, and retains important nutrients on the islands in the form of composts or soil improvers. Securing this potential is a practical challenge, requiring technical, social and governance changes among island communities with different histories, geographies, cultural norms and values. Addressing this complexity requires an interdisciplinary approach that engages multiple local stakeholders.
As a student based in the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity (LCAB), you will liaise closely with these stakeholders, including during fieldwork on the Isles of Scilly for up to six months.
LCAB provides opportunities to interact with students and researchers across departments and institutions, and will offer additional training as required.
Further information about postgraduate research at the University of York can be found on the university’s webpages.
Your experience of qualitative participatory methods, strong communication skills in both academic and community settings, and willingness to engage with environmental monitoring and analysis, will enable you to:
Your background in social science from within human geography, environmental science or related disciplines will demonstrate your strength in bringing concepts and methods from the academic literature to bear on real-world challenges.
Students with, or expecting to gain, at least an Upper Second Class Honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply. The interdisciplinary nature of this research project means that we welcome applications from students with backgrounds in any relevant subject that provides the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for the project. You will need to submit a one-page proposal outlining how you would approach the research project. See LCAB’s FAQs for further details.
This studentship covers UK fees for four years and a tax-free stipend to match the UKRI’s minimum rate (GBP 19,237 for 2024/25) for three and a half years.
To qualify for UK (home) fee status, you normally need to have UK nationality, and to have been ordinarily resident here for some years to be classified as a home student. Time spent in the UK for educational purposes is not counted as ordinary residence.
Students living in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are usually charged the same fee as UK students. EU citizens with settled or pre-settled UK status, and Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland, are eligible for a UK rate if the usual residency requirements are met.
SEI York, based at the University of York, has a diverse research agenda including air pollution, climate change, sustainable consumption and human health. Using a range of participatory approaches, such as citizen science, we help policymakers in the UK and around the world make informed decisions for a sustainable and inclusive future.
The Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity undertakes world-leading interdisciplinary research into the complexities of biodiversity change in the anthropocene, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The centre provides opportunities to interact with students and researchers across departments and institutions, and will offer additional training as required.
Stockholm Environment Institute is an international non-profit research and policy organization that tackles environment and development challenges.
We connect science and decision-making to develop solutions for a sustainable future for all.
Our approach is highly collaborative: stakeholder involvement is at the heart of our efforts to build capacity, strengthen institutions, and equip partners for the long term.
Our work spans climate, water, air, and land-use issues, and integrates evidence and perspectives on governance, the economy, gender and human health.
Across our eight centres in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, we engage with policy processes, development action and business practice throughout the world.
Internship / The SEI Africa internship programme provides a unique learning opportunity for postgraduate and recently graduated students from diverse academic backgrounds.
Internship / Doing a PhD with SEI York allows you to study in a beautiful city surrounded by world-class researchers working on environment and development issues.
Internship / Join SEI Tallinn for an internship on climate adaptation and risk, mapping participatory practices across Europe.
Design and development by Soapbox.
