Professional summary
Laura is an environmental scientist specialising in the efficacy of land management policies for soil health and ecosystem services, with a keen interest in evidence-based policy and monitoring ecological change at scale.
She leads the UKCEH Countryside Survey soils programme, monitoring soil health across Great Britain and is the lead data analyst for the soil and freshwater research themes of the Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme (ERAMMP) national field survey for Wales. She is also part of the AI4SoilHealth project supporting the development of soil health indicators for the EU. In addition to her research and national monitoring work, Laura has experience leading rapid evidence reviews to inform policy development in England and Wales and experience conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Laura trained as an ecologist in plant sciences with a research interest in natural forest regeneration and forest water use and is particularly interested in questions surrounding the use management to support net carbon sequestration.
Bentley, L., Feeney, C., Matthews, R., Evans, C.D., Garbutt, R.A., Thomson, A. & Emmett, B.A. (2023). Qualitative impact assessment of land management interventions on Ecosystem Services (“QEIA”). Report-3 Theme-6: Carbon Sequestration. (Defra ECM_62324/UKCEH 08044)
Bentley, L., Doeser, A. & Scarlet, P., Jarvis, S., Reinsch, S., Feeney, C. & Emmett, B A. (2025). Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme (ERAMMP). ERAMMP Technical Annex-105TA1S10: Wales National Trends and Glastir Evaluation, Supplement-10: Freshwaters. Report to Welsh Government (Contract C208/2021/2022) (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Project 08435)
Emmett, B.A., Anthony, S., Arnett, J., Bentley, L.F., Bell, C., Blaker, J., Botham, M., Bowgen, K.M., Brentegani, M., Campbell, H., Chetiu, N.F., Crossley, P., Deacon, A., Dhiedt, E., Doeser, A., Dos Santos Pereira, G., Ebuele, V., Feeney, C., Fitos, E., Garbutt, R.A., Hunt, M., Jarvis, S.G., Keenan, P., Kimberley, A., Lord, W., Macgregor, C.J., Maskell, L., Monkman, G., Mondain-Monval, T.O., Norton, L., O’Neil, A., Radbourne, A., Reinsch, S., Richardson-Jones, V., Robinson, D.A., Robinson, I., Rowland, C.S., Salisbury, E., Scarlett, P., Siriwardena, G.M., Smart, S.M., Tandy, S., Thacker, S., Wallace, H., Waters, E., Whitworth, E., Williams, B., Williams, G., Williamson, J.L., Wood, C. (2025). Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme (ERAMMP). ERAMMP Technical Annex-105TA1: Wales National Trends and Glastir Evaluation. Report to Welsh Government (Contract C208/2021/2022) (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Project 08435)
Levy, P., Bentley, L., Emmett, B., Garbutt, A., Keith, A., Lebron, I., and Robinson, D. (2023): The Effects of Land Use on Soil Carbon Stocks in the UK, EGUsphere , https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1681
Keenleyside, C.B., Alison, J., Bentley, L., Garbutt, R.A., Noble, D.G. & Smart, S.M. (2021). Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme (ERAMMP). ERAMMP Report-59TA2: SMS Natura 2000 Restoration Award Evaluation Technical Annex 5. Report to Welsh Government (Contract C210/2016/2017)(UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Projects 06297 & 06810)
Alison, J., Bowgen, K., Siriwardena, G.M., Williams, B., Reinsch, S., Garbutt, R.A. & Emmett, B.A. (2021). Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme (ERAMMP). ERAMMP Report-58: ERAMMP Square Selection Protocol 2021/2022. Report to Welsh Government (Contract C210/2016/2017)(UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Projects 06297 & 06810)
Amy Thomas, Laura Bentley, Chris Feeney, Stephen Lofts, Ciaran Robb, Ed C Rowe, Amanda Thomson, Eleanor Warren-Thomas, Bridget Emmett (2023),
Land degradation neutrality: Testing the indicator in a temperate agricultural landscape, Journal of Environmental Management, 346, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118884.
Christopher J. Feeney, David A. Robinson, Aidan M. Keith, Audric Vigier, Laura Bentley, Richard P. Smith, Angus Garbutt, Lindsay C. Maskell, Lisa Norton, Claire M. Wood, B. Jack Cosby, Bridget A. Emmett, (2023) Development of soil health benchmarks for managed and semi-natural landscapes, Science of The Total Environment, 886, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163973.