4 minute read
Widening the environmental debate
In June 2023, Eleanor Luxton (Geography, 2021) sat down with alumnus Martin Stott (Geography, 1973), who funded the NERC-Stott Scholarship in Environmental Geography. They were joined by first-year DPhil student Courtney Stuart (Environmental Research, 2022) to discuss Courtney’s work, the role that Mansfield plays in creating future changemakers, and how the discipline has developed over the years.
Eleanor: Courtney, how have your research interests changed over time, from undergraduate studies to master’s and now DPhil?
Courtney: I started in Marine Vertebrate Biology – I’ve always loved fish research! Later, I took a Geographic Information Science (GIS) course, which made me fall in love with the geography side of things.
My work with Dr Lisa Wedding and the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab focuses on ecological connectivity and land-sea nutrient cycling around the islands of Te Ao Mā’ohi (the land of the Mā’ohi peoples, now referred to as French Polynesia), using a combination of landscape ecology theory, stable isotope analysis, and GIS-based approaches. The islands have healthy coral reefs at the moment, but I’m interested in how growing tourist numbers and seabird waste (guano) impact nutrient pathways across land and sea. There’s a real push-and-pull between protecting these environments and supporting sustainable ecotourism.
Eleanor: What inspired you to support DPhil students at the School of Geography and the Environment, Martin?
Martin: The very first project I supported was at the London School of Economics, with my daughter, about the impact of feminism on environmental issues. This looked at women’s experiences of using public transport in India. I thought that we could do more to address climate change, and we unlocked funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with the help of Mansfield’s Development Office.
Eleanor: What role do you think Mansfield should, or will, play in producing climate scientists, activists and policymakers of the future?
Martin: Mansfield has a good radical tradition and I think that’s well worth building on. I consider myself to be an activist even now. It’s a mistake to assume that academia is the be-all-and-end-all. Mansfield has produced some amazing people, from the BBC’s Chief Environment Correspondent Justin Rowlatt to the late Philip Bassett of New Labour.
Eleanor: I know you’re passionate about diversity in the scientific community, Courtney, and wondered if you could speak about this?
Courtney: Academia can be a silo sometimes, especially if you’re from an underrepresented background. I’ve mentored master’s and undergraduate students and, being from a single-income family who benefited from mentorship, I really want to repay the favour.
Eleanor: What do you think are some of the key changes that Oxford colleges need to make if they’re to reach the University’s goal of net zero by 2035?
Martin: We need to widen debates about the investments colleges have. To what extent are pension funds divested from fossil fuel corporations? Mansfield is mid-table on this year’s Climate League of Oxford and Cambridge sustainability rankings, so there’s definitely improvements to be made in regards to making carbon-neutral strategies more transparent.
Courtney: I think each of the colleges should have sustainable development goals, but it’s important for the colleges to work together too. There should be opportunities for students and the local community to get involved in discussions.
In autumn 2023, Eleanor caught up with Courtney for an update about her research. During September and October 2023, Courtney strategically sampled brown (Turbinaria) and green (Halimeda) macroalgae in Te Ao Mā’ohi’s heterogenous, nearshore seascapes. Courtney collected over 130 macroalgal samples, in preparation for nutrient and stable isotope analyses. She complemented this with snorkel-based transect surveys of benthic cover and fish assemblages to enable subsequent evaluation of hypothesised relationships between land-sea nutrient sources and flows, macroalgal distributions, and spatial patterns of reef fish biomass and biodiversity. Using this data, Courtney hopes to map and model spatial patterns of productivity and vulnerability to support adaptive management planning and island ecosystem resilience.
