Dr. Warren-Thomas completed a PhD in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in 2017, focussing on natural rubber plantations as a driver of deforestation and biodiversity change in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. She conducted cost-benefit analysis of forest conservation using carbon finance/REDD+ versus rubber plantation and timber profits in Cambodia, established and led field data collection to investigate biodiversity co-benefits and yield impacts of rubber agroforestry in Thailand, and analysed the ongoing role of natural rubber demand as a deforestation driver.
From 2017 – 2019, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of York, working to understand the effects of tropical peatland restoration initiatives on biodiversity and smallholder livelihoods, and changes in landscape connectivity of peat swamp forests in Sumatra over time. She established and led a program of fieldwork, conducted connectivity modelling, and coordinated the international and inter-disciplinary research project, working with social scientists, remote sensing specialists and greenhouse gas emissions scientists between the UK and Indonesia. From 2019-2020 she worked as a GIS/Spatial Data Analyst at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, on the UKSCAPE Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics project and the Environment & Rural Affairs Monitoring and Modelling Programme (ERAMMP).
Prior to her PhD she obtained an MSc in Conservation from University College London, a BA in Biological Sciences from Oxford University, and conducted field research in agroecosystems and forests in Peru, China, and Honduras.
Her current research focusses on addressing the potential unintended consequences of tropical forest restoration initiatives and policies for biodiversity and socio-economic outcomes. She works to identify pathways to generating multiple benefits from forest restoration. She will use models of land use change, biodiversity response and ecosystem service delivery together with scenario analysis, using Colombia as a main case study.
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Funding: IIASA - NERC Research Fellow
Nationality: UK
Program: Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM)
Starting date: June 2020
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313