Professional summary

Brief CV

Bridget is UKCEH's Science Area Head for Soils and Land Use (SLU) which involves leadership and management of more than 100 research staff and 40 postgraduate students across three UKCEH sites.  Research in the SLU team tackle urgent challenges such as the need for cleaner air, more sustainable land management practices, restoring soil health, climate mitigation as well as developing new opportunities for policy and business such as green finance and net zero across many habitats from agricultural land to upland, coastal and urban systems.  

Bridget’s current research is often as the lead for projects requiring the coordination of a large number of partners to improve integration across different disciplines and sectors from catchment/landscape to national scale to improve the evidence base and support national policy development and outcome reporting in the areas of e.g. soil health, ecosystem services, agri-environment schemes and natural capital.

Bridget was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her Services to Soil and Ecosystem Sciences in 2023; the Marsh Award for her Climate Change Research by the British Ecological Society in 2016 and was one of the team awarded the AGI Award for Geospatial Excellence in 2014. She has an H index of 57 and has a publication record with 10,945 citations. She served as the Specialist Adviser for the UK Parliamentary Inquiry into Soil Health in 2016 and was a Member of the EU Mission Board on Soil Health and Food and member 2019-2022.

Qualifications

Honorary Professorship, Bangor University, 2009

PhD (Soil Ecology) University of Exeter 1990.

Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours, Plant Science) University of Aberdeen 1985.

Panels, committees and memberships

2022 – date      Defra E.L.M Ecology and Ecosystems Services Expert Panel

2022 – date      British Ecological Society ‘The Future of Ecological Research in the UK’ Panel

2022 - date       British Ecological Society Welsh Policy Group

2022 – date      EU Soil Observatory Monitoring Working Group

2022 - date       Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany Scientific Advisory Board

2021 - date       The Royal Society’s University Research Fellowship Scheme - Appointment Panel B

2021 - date       Rothamsted Research - Board of Trustee-Directors and Science Advisory Group Board.

2021 - date       Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Service in a Changing Climate (BECC) Scientific Advisory Panel. Swedish Government Strategic Research Initiative.

2021 – date      Environment Platform Wales Management Board

2019 – 2022     Board Member for the EU Mission: ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’

2019 - date       Ecological Continuity Trust Board of Trustees

2019 - date       Chair and Management Board of uksoils

2017 - date       CREAF (Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications) International Scientific Committee, Spain.

2017 - date       Sustainable Soils Alliance Scientific Advisory Board

2016 - date       Learned Society of Wales – Cellular, Molecular, Evolutionary, Organismal and Ecosystem Sciences Scrutiny Committee

2013 - date       UK Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory Steering Committee

Web tools and apps

Bridget's outreach activities include being a founding member and Chair of the community initiative ‘uksoils’ which aims to create a community hub to inspire us all to learn more about soil and help build communities to take action to improve soil health https://uksoils.org/. She was a member of the award winning team who developed the online community soil digital platform - the UK Soil Observatory http://www.ukso.org/ to improve community access to soil data and maps and was the co-author and narrator of BBC Ideas/Royal Society animation film on “The wonders of Soil” https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/why-soil-is-one-of-the-most-amazing-things-on-eart/p090cf64. She often contributes to media articles and interviews regarding the importance of soil health.

Awards

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for Services to Soil and Ecosystem Sciences, 2023

President Elect, British Ecological Society, 2023

Marsh Award for Climate Change Research, British Ecological Society, 2016

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, 2015

Fellow of the British Society of Soil Science, 2015

AGI Award for Geospatial Excellence (team award) 2014

Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, 2010

Publications