Dr Lydia Cole

Dr Lydia Cole

Lecturer

Researcher profile

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 2389
Email
lesc1@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Research areas

I am a conservation ecologist with a keen interest in how tropical ecosystems can be managed sustainably in the face of agricultural expansion and the other pervasive impacts of globalisation. I am particularly interested in peat-scapes, and how they can be responsibly managed through an understanding of their unique hydrological requirements. Past projects of mine, involving time in both academia and industry, have included: creating a mapping and monitoring system for peatlands in the UK, Malaysia and Indonesia; reconstructing past vegetation change and assessing future prospects for the coastal peatlands of Malaysian Borneo; exploring the dynamics of human-wildlife interaction in northeast India; and training Government, research and NGO partners in Ghana, Indonesia and Malaysia on the use of a decision support tool for restoring connectivity in landscapes for biodiversity under climate change.

I'm currently working on a range of research projects with various (fantastic!) interdisciplinary teams, which have a unifying focus on exploring human-environment interactions at different scales:

  • An exploration of the local value of intact tropical peatlands in the lowland Peruvian Amazon, led by Dr Katy Roucoux (Geography & SD)
  • An examination of local perceptions of peatland restoration in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, co-led with Dr Cornelia Helmcke (Geography & SD)
  • An interdisciplinary exploration of the value and parameters of volumetric literacy for natural resource and environmental management, led by Dr Ariadne Collins (International Relations)
  • A pilot project to understand the local to regional implications of peat-fired power generation in Rwanda, under development with Professor Hans Joosten (Greifswald Mire Centre)

In my teaching, I explore the following themes:

  • Environmental management, introducing students to topics including ecological science, social-ecological systems approaches, local ecological knowledge, multistakeholder engagement, ecological literacy
  • Environmental Geography
  • Interdisciplinary approaches
  • Sustainable development in relation to environment
  • Research methods (including field data collection & working with secondary data) in Physical and Environmental Geography
  • Data literacy for social and environmental justice (new digital Masters course, to go live in January 2024)

In order to engage with the next, and multiple generation(s), with industry and with the wider scientific community, I am engaged in the following roles:

Selected publications

  • Open access

    From ‘Muddy glee’ to muddy reflections on fieldwork and writing

     Thornton, S. A., Cook, S., Cole, L., Hapsari, K. A., Zawawi, N. Z. & Page, S. E., 17 Oct 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Area. Early View, 6 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access

    Risks to carbon storage from land-use change revealed by peat thickness maps of Peru

     Hastie, A., Honorio Coronado, E. N., Reyna, J., Mitchard, E. T. A., Åkesson, C. M., Baker, T. R., Cole, L. E. S., Oroche, C. J. C., Dargie, G., Dávila, N., De Grandi, E. C., Del Águila, J., Del Castillo Torres, D., De La Cruz Paiva, R., Draper, F. C., Flores, G., Grández, J., Hergoualc’h, K., Householder, J. E., Janovec, J. P., Lähteenoja, O., Reyna, D., Rodríguez-Veiga, P., Roucoux, K. H., Tobler, M., Wheeler, C. E., Williams, M. & Lawson, I. T., 14 Apr 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature Geoscience. First Online

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access

    The vulnerability of tropical peatlands to oil and gas exploration and extraction

     Lawson, I. T., Honorio Coronado, E. N., Andueza, L., Cole, L. E. S., Dargie, G., Davies, A., Laurie, N., Okafor-Yarwood, I., Roucoux, K. & Simpson, M., 1 Dec 2022, In: Progress in Environmental Geography. 1, 1-4, p. 84-114 31 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access

    Tropical peatlands in the Anthropocene: the present and the future

     Girkin, N. T., Cooper, H. V., Ledger, M. J., O’Reilly, P., Thornton, S. A., Åkesson, C., Cole, L. E. S., Hapsari, K. A., Hawthorne, D. & Roucoux, K. H., 1 Dec 2022, In: Anthropocene. 40, 16 p., 100354.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access

    Tropical peatlands in the anthropocene: lessons from the past

     Cole, L. E. S., Åkesson, C., Hapsari, K. A., Hawthorne, D., Roucoux, K., Girkin, N. T., Cooper, H. V., Ledger, M. J., O'Reilly, P. & Thornton, S. A., Mar 2022, In: Anthropocene. 37, 17 p., 100324.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

  • Open access

    Guides to Better Science: Interdisciplinary research

     Cole, L. E. S. & Davies, A., 2021, British Ecological Society.

    Research output: Book/Report › Book

  • Open access

    Intensive field sampling increases the known extent of carbon-rich Amazonian peatland pole forests

     Honorio Coronado, E. N., Hastie, A., Reyna, J., Flores, G., Grández, J., Lähteenoja, O., Draper, F. C., Åkesson, C., Baker, T. R., Bhomia, R. K., Cole, L. E. S., Dávila, N., Del Águila, J., Del Águila, M., Del Castillo Torres, D., Lawson, I. T., Martín Brañas, M., Mitchard, E. T. A., Monteagudo, A., Philips, O. L., Ramírez, E., Ríos, M., Ríos, S., Rodriguez, L., Roucoux, K. H., Tagle Casapia, X., Vasquez, R., Wheeler, C. E. & Montoya, M., 14 Jul 2021, In: Environmental Research Letters. 16, 7, 16 p., 074048.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access

    The future of Southeast Asia's tropical peatlands: local and global perspectives

     Cole, L. E. S., Willis, K. J. & Bhagwat, S. A., Jun 2021, In: Anthropocene. 34, 100292.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access

    Tropical peatlands and their importance to people and climate

     Cole, L. E. S., Roucoux, K. & MacKenzie, G. R., Nov 2021, In: The Sustainability Series, vol. 1.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

  • Expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink

     Loisel, J., Gallego-Sala, A. V., Amesbury, M. J., Magnan, G., Anshari, G., Beilman, D. W., Benavides, J. C., Blewett, J., Camill, P., Charman, D. J., Chawchai, S., Hedgpeth, A., Kleinen, T., Korhola, A., Large, D., Mansilla, C. A., Müller, J., van Bellen, S., West, J. B., Yu, Z., Bubier, J. L., Garneau, M., Moore, T., Sannel, A. B. K., Page, S., Väliranta, M., Bechtold, M., Brovkin, V., Cole, L. E. S., Chanton, J. P., Christensen, T. R., Davies, M. A., De Vleeschouwer, F., Finkelstein, S. A., Frolking, S., Gałka, M., Gandois, L., Girkin, N., Harris, L. I., Heinemeyer, A., Hoyt, A. M., Jones, M. C., Joos, F., Juutinen, S., Kaiser, K., Lacourse, T., Lamentowicz, M., Larmola, T., Leifeld, J., Lohila, A., Milner, A. M., Minkkinen, K., Moss, P., Naafs, B. D. A., Nichols, J., O’Donnell, J., Payne, R., Philben, M., Piilo, S., Quillet, A., Ratnayake, A. S., Roland, T. P., Sjögersten, S., Sonnentag, O., Swindles, G. T., Swinnen, W., Talbot, J., Treat, C., Valach, A. C. & Wu, J., 7 Dec 2020, In: Nature Climate Change.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

 

See more publications