Meet the first ILESLA cohort in the Ecosystems Lab

This year, the Ecosystems Lab welcomed three doctoral researchers from the first cohort of Oxford's new Integrated Life and Environmental Sciences Landscape Award (ILESLA) Doctoral Training Programme. ILESLA, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), brings together researchers across disciplines to tackle environmental challenges spanning ecology, biology, atmospheric science and the social sciences.

Although each student is pursuing a distinct research question, they are all collaborating with members of the Ecosystems Lab as part of their doctoral research and recently introduced their projects to the group during a series of lab presentations.

Together, their projects showcase the breadth of ecosystem research, from the microscopic organisms living beneath our feet, to the human dimensions of species reintroductions, to the atmospheric processes linking forests with the global climate.

Exploring soil ecosystems

Pranay Arora's research focuses on soil energetics and the remarkable biodiversity that lives below ground. Although soils are home to around 59% of all known species, they remain one of the least visible and least understood components of the Earth's biosphere.

Working with Prof Yadvinder Malhi, Pranay is exploring how agricultural practices and climate extremes, particularly drought, affect soil biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. His work examines how microbial communities respond to environmental stress and asks what makes healthy soils more resistant and resilient to disturbance. By improving our understanding of these hidden ecosystems, his research aims to inform efforts to protect soil health, support food production and strengthen ecosystem resilience in a changing climate.

Pranay is interested in soil biodiversity as a critical element of ecological research, and in understanding how soil ecosystems respond to environmental change. (Image Credit: Pranay Arora; Wikimedia Commons)

Understanding conservation and public opinion

Joshua Sains' research examines one of the more controversial areas of conservation: "guerrilla rewilding", the unlicensed release of species in the name of conservation.

While these releases are often motivated by a desire to restore nature, they bypass scientific planning, licensing and community consultation. Joshua's project investigates how the public perceives these introductions, exploring whether attitudes change depending on the species involved, who carried out the release and why it happened.

Using large-scale public surveys, his research aims to better understand how people weigh ecological benefits against social and governance concerns. By examining public attitudes towards conservation interventions, his work highlights the importance of considering both ecological and human dimensions when restoring species and ecosystems.

Here, Joshua Sains is piloting a species knowledge quiz at the Oxford Museum of Natural History. (Image Credit: Joshua Sains)

Investigating forest–atmosphere feedbacks

Aryaman Gupta's research sits at the intersection of ecology and atmospheric science, exploring how tropical forests influence the climate above them.

Many Amazonian trees release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), small molecules that help them tolerate heat and drought, regulate their microclimate and communicate with neighbouring plants. Once released into the atmosphere, these compounds form aerosols that influence cloud formation, rainfall and the Earth's energy balance.

Aryaman's research investigates how these ecological and atmospheric processes are connected, asking whether the compounds that help forests respond to environmental stress also play an important role in shaping regional climate. His work aims to improve our understanding of how these forest-atmosphere feedbacks may change in response to climate change, forest loss and restoration.

Long-term research at sites like the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), pictured above, is helping scientists better understand interactions between the Amazon forest and the atmosphere. These forest-atmosphere interactions are central to Aryaman’s research. (Image Credit: ATTO)

Research across disciplines

Although their projects span soil ecology, conservation social science and atmospheric ecology, all three students are contributing to the Ecosystems Lab from different disciplinary perspectives. Their work reflects the lab's interdisciplinary ethos, where understanding and addressing environmental challenges often means bringing together expertise from across the natural and social sciences.

As members of the inaugural ILESLA cohort continue their doctoral research, they are building new collaborations across departments while contributing fresh ideas and expertise to the Ecosystems Lab. Together, their projects demonstrate how bringing different disciplines together can deepen our understanding of ecosystems and the challenges they face.