Event Details

In this joint CEH/LEC seminar Dr Jennifer Lucey, Knowledge Exchange Fellow in the department of Zoology at the University of Oxford, will discuss her NERC Impact Award winning work on oil palm sustainability in South East Asia .

Abstract: The oil palm industry is responsible for serious environmental damage but is vital to the economies of the countries where it is grown. Therefore, it is essential that we find more sustainable ways of producing palm oil which balance economic and environmental needs better.Scientists have an important role to play in solving this complex problem but we need to overcome barriers of communication, relevance and timeliness in order to create more impact for our research. I will talk about the knowledge exchange process I developed to translate my research on forest fragmentation ecology into practical knowledge to inform industry practice. I’ll show how this approach has successfully generated uptake of science into new global industry standards and real change on the ground, as well as new collaborations, funding and research directions. There is exciting information on Dr Lucey's and oil palm sustainability research online.

Biography: Jen is a Knowledge Exchange Fellow in the department of Zoology at the University of Oxford. Following an undergraduate degree in Ecology at the University of Durham Jen went on to do a PhD at the University of York where she studied the impacts of forest fragmentation on insect biodiversity in oil palm landscapes in Borneo. This led to a deep interest in the conservation issues surrounding the palm oil sector, and in 2015 she was awarded a NERC Knowledge exchange fellowship to work with the palm oil sector to use science to improve their sustainability standards.

In 2018 Jen received the NERC Early Career Impact Award for the impact of her research in developing new no-deforestation standards that are now being implemented across millions of hectares in 10 tropical countries and 4 global commodity crops.

All students, staff and colleagues are encouraged to attend.

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