Professor Jane Memmott
B.Sc., Ph.D.(Leeds)
Current positions
Professor of Ecology
School of Biological Sciences
Contact
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Biography
My research group at Bristol University studies the impact of environmental change, working in a variety of research fields including pollination ecology, agro-ecology, invasion ecology, urban ecology and restoration ecology. Field sites range from villages in the mountains of Nepal to Bristol allotments, and my group works closely with farmers, conservation practitioners and policymakers.
I was awarded the Presidents Medal (2011) and the Marsh Award for Ecology (2015) by the British Ecological Society, the Urban Pollinators Project was awarded the Bristol Genius Prize in 2013 and our paper in Nature on nectar declines in 2016, was awarded the prize for the top conservation project by the RSPB in 2017. I was awarded an OBE for services to Ecology and Pollinating insects in 2021 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023.
Since my arrival at Bristol in1997 I have taught ecology doing two stints as Head of Teaching and being Head of School 2013-2017.
Research interests
My research interests in ecology include pollination ecology, invasion ecology, agro-ecology, biological control, urban ecology and restoration ecology. A theme that runs through many of my projects is the use of ecological networks to as a tool to answer a variety of environmental questions. For example does restoration ecology restore ecological function, are ecosystem services affected by farming approach and how do aliens integrate into ecological networks? I work as both a pure and an applied ecologist and I am particularly keen on working at the interface between the two disciplines. A wide variety of techniques are used by my research group, from field observation to field experiment, from theory to molecular approaches.
Further information about my research can be found on my lab's webpage.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Drivers and impacts of Insect biodiversity changes across PanTropical forests
Principal Investigator
Role
Collaborator
Description
"PanTropIn: Causas e Impactos de Mudanças na biodiversidade de Insetos em florestas PanTropicais" (in Portuguese)
Despite the growing number of academic studies and media headlines drawing attention to 'collapses in insect…Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/05/2024 to 30/04/2028
NERC The Impact of a Pesticide Ban on a Whole-Island Pollinator Community
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
16/02/2024 to 15/02/2028
Growing Liveable Worlds: Ethical encounters between human and plant life
Principal Investigator
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
This project will generate insights into new ways of living well with plant species. It will do so by asking participants to experience a hydroponics techno-garden, designed as a 'Living…Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
17/12/2021 to 31/07/2022
HERD The Pollination of Nepal's Micronutrient-rich Crops in a Changing Climate
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/01/2020 to 31/12/2022
The Belmont Trust UCL - The Pollination of Nepal's Micronutrient-rich Crops in a Changing Climate
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/01/2020 to 31/12/2022
Thesis supervisions
The restoration of plant pollinator interactions
Supervisors
Bottom-up effects of eutrophication on insect interaction networks
Supervisors
Investigating configuration, connectivity and conservation goals to understand nature reserve design
Supervisors
Pollen
Supervisors
Bottom-up effects in plant-insect networks
Supervisors
Using plant-pollinator networks to identify the floral preferences of four groups of pollinators in the UK
Supervisors
The effectiveness of wildlife corridors in theory and in practice
Supervisors
The impact of releasing pheasants for shooting on invertebrates in British woodlands
Supervisors
The molecular mechanisms of behavioural transitions in insect life-cycles
Supervisors
Map the gap
Supervisors
Publications
Selected publications
01/01/2012Understanding and planning ecological restoration of plant-pollinator networks
Ecology Letters
The impact of an alient plant on a native plant-pollinator network: an experimental approach
Ecology Letters
Diet breadth influences how the impact of invasive plants is propagated through food webs
Ecology
Do differences in food web structure between organic and conventional farms affect the ecosystem service of pest control?
Ecology Letters
Infiltration of a Hawaiian community by introduced biocontrol agents
Science
Recent publications
30/07/2024Agricultural specialisation increases the vulnerability of pollination services for smallholder farmers
Journal of Applied Ecology
Decline in Honeybees and Its Consequences for Beekeepers and Crop Pollination in Western Nepal
Insects
Gardens reduce seasonal hunger gaps for farmland pollinators
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Isolation limits spring pollination in a UK fragmented landscape
PLoS ONE
Multi-habitat landscapes are more diverse and stable with improved function
Nature
