Bawa Sulemana is an ecologist and doctoral candidate at Oriel College, University of Oxford. He works in the ecology working group of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery in the Environmental Change Institute.
As an ecologist and conservation biologist, Sulemana has substantial research experience in ornithology, herpetology, and freshwater ecology, and his current research focuses on advancing eco-acoustics, camera trapping and other remote sensing technologies to monitor biodiversity in tropical ecosystems. Sulemana is also a conservation practitioner integrating Indigenous knowledge systems with conventional Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for biodiversity management through Community-led conservation initiatives where Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), traditional values and practices are employed to manage natural resources. Before commencing his studies at Oxford, he led rewilding initiatives and developed community-based biodiversity monitoring approaches for collaborative resource management in Ghana.
Sulemana’s DPhil research seeks to upscale the use of eco-acoustics for monitoring nature recovery by leveraging Artificial Intelligence to analyze acoustic data. His research will develop and apply unsupervised machine learning models that require minimal labelled data to analyze soundscapes and derive metrics of ecological integrity. Also, by analysing species’ functional structures and energy flows across taxa, he aims to evaluate the effectiveness of various nature recovery interventions in fostering truly resilient ecosystems. In addition, his work investigates approaches to reliably estimate species abundance and density from acoustic data while integrating high-resolution LiDAR and eco-acoustics to map habitat structure and model occupancy and distribution of keystone species.
By investigating the multifaceted dynamics of ecosystem resilience and restoration, Sulemana’s research will contribute valuable insights to both the scientific and conservation communities. His findings in the tropical ecosystem will hold significant value for the broader fields of ecological restoration and AI-driven biodiversity monitoring globally.
I am a researcher focused on understanding biodiversity intactness in East African savannas, particularly across varying land management interventions and rainfall gradients in Kenya. My work is conducted in collaboration with Natural States Kenya and the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at the University of Oxford.
Currently, my postdoctoral research aims to identify intactness thresholds within Kenyan savannas, specifically across a herbivory gradient. I am investigating how biodiversity, carbon pools and energy flow in these ecosystems change in response to variations in herbivory pressure. This study has important implications for enhancing our understanding of savanna ecology and for informing effective, scientifically grounded management strategies.
Previously, I have worked in Asian tropical savannas, with a focus on biodiversity loss in savanna ecosystems across invasion and disturbance gradients. My research aims to provide deeper insights into the dynamics of savanna ecosystems and contribute to better conservation and land management practices.
The United Nations Secretary-General designated Dr. David Cooper as Acting Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as of 15 February 2023 until 1 July 2024.
Prior to his appointment, David had been the Deputy Executive Secretary at the CBD Secretariat since October 2015, where he assisted the Executive Secretary by leading the strategic and planning activities of the Secretariat, as well as the intergovernmental processes and activities under the Convention and its two protocols — the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.ECI
David has more than 30 years of experience in environmental and agricultural science and policy, and international negotiations, including more than 20 years with the CBD. He has built strong and productive working relationships with Parties in all regions and with partners in civil society, international organisations, and the scientific community. As Secretary of the fifteenth meeting of the CBD Conference of the Parties (COP 15), held in Kunming, China (in October 2021) and in Montreal, Canada (in December 2022), David was instrumental in facilitating the complex pathway that led to the successful finalisation and adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and other key decisions, including those on digital sequence information on genetic resources, and on resource mobilisation.
David was previously Director of the division for science, assessment and monitoring at the Secretariat. Prior to that, he coordinated implementation of the Convention’s strategic plans, including through the national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and led various work programmes, including on agricultural biodiversity, drylands, plant conservation, climate change and engagement with the private sector.
Lucy is a conservation scientist with Natural State, where she works on developing methods to quantify change in biodiversity in response to restoration initiatives. Her work is mainly focused on collecting, processing and analysing data from passive sensors such as acoustic monitors and camera traps. Currently, the projects she is involved in are focused on data from the Kenyan rangelands and the Namibian drylands. Together, Natural State and the LCNR are working on developing robust and scalable solutions for monitoring change in these systems and interpreting these changes in the context of nature recovery. This will help to generate actionable insights on ecological restoration.
Nicola is the current Trapnell Fellow in African Environments. My current research interests are centred around understanding the dynamics of African grassy ecosystems and how they are changing in the Anthropocene. I’m especially interested in understanding how altered fire and herbivory regimes against a backdrop of changing CO2 concentrations are driving changes. Along this vein I have become particularly interested in the phenomenon of woody encroachment where open ecosystems across the tropics are being invaded by native woody species. It has also driven me to improve our ability to predict future species ranges under global change by improving our mechanistic understanding of range edges in disturbance limited systems. I have ongoing projects in Southern and East Africa.
Carlo Pasqua has experience collaborating with central banks, financial institutions, and standard-setting bodies to address climate and nature-related financial risks while assessing green investment needs. With a solid foundation in Economics, Finance, and Monetary Policy, including prior roles at the Counsel to the Executive Board and the Climate Change Centre of the European Central Bank, as well as in the private financial sector, he is dedicated to aligning finance and policy with sustainable development and advancing the transition to a net-zero, nature-positive future.
Carlo’s work emphasizes integrating environmental risks into financial decision-making and driving innovation in nature finance. At the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, he will leverage his expertise to explore effective strategies for mobilizing investments to address environmental and economic challenges in Kenya.
Thomas is a DPhil candidate researching urban biodiveristy and connectivity within urban landscapes with a specific focus on London, UK. He is a part of the Environmental Change Institute, the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery and works within the Biodiveristy, Ecosystems, and Conservation Cluster in the School of Geography. He is a member of Oriel College.
Prior to his Doctoral studies, Thomas completed his MSc also at Oxford in SoGE where he studied Biodiversity, Conservation and Management. His dissertation looked at the role and proficiency of Biodiveristy Net Gain (BNG) in meeting conservation requirements in the City of Westminster. Before this he achieved a BA from McGill University in Montréal, where he studied Philosophy and Environmental Biology, graduating with Distinction.
Thomas also worked at the Gluon Group – a green investment holding company – in London upon finishing his undergraduate studies. He is committed to finding solutions to tackle the biodiveristy and climate crises in our cities and is looking to work with private, public and third sector organisations to achieve this throughout his DPhil.
Lea is a DPhil student in the School of Geography and the Environment’s Environmental Change Institute, conducting critical social science research on the relationship between property regimes and biodiversity restoration. Lea’s current research focuses on the land management practices of Scottish community landownership organisations and their interactions with public and privatised nature recovery initiatives.
The project, which has been co-developed with community-based partners, aims to support to the needs of community landownership organisations while also contributing to broader understandings of the role for alternative ownership models in nature recovery. This work is situated within the Society Research Theme, investigating the distribution of costs and benefits under various approaches to nature recovery and their implications for more just and equitable human-nature relations.
I am a Senior Research Associate at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. I use a mix of quantitative methods to explore socio-ecological systems, working at the intersection of nature, risk, collective action, and sustainable development. At the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, my current research investigates how nature can be integrated into economic modeling frameworks to inform strategies for nature conservation and restoration. This research aims to help shaping the global discourse on nature finance, examining whether pricing ecosystem services can enhance the management of natural capital and how payment for ecosystem services could support developing countries in breaking the cycle of unsustainable debt.
Laurence is a social geographer with research interests centred on the interaction between environmental conditions – such as climate risks and landscape characteristics – and wellbeing outcomes, including both objective (i.e., poverty) and subjective measures (i.e., happiness).
He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery working on projects that explore the health and wellbeing benefits of nature in the UK and global context. Laurence completed his PhD in Geography at the University of Southampton, where he explored the relationship between objective and subjective wellbeing in the vulnerable coastal location of Volta Delta in southeast Ghana. He also has experience working at the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for the Asia Pacific region, where he supported efforts to integrate broader concepts of wellbeing within nature-based solution projects.
