Dr Tom Smart

Natural England

What do you do?

I recently completed a PhD in the Conservation Ecology Group at Durham, working with Prof Stephen Willis. My research focused on the prioritisation of conservation effort in a changing world, considering the optimal use of protected areas to conserve species in the wild, and how zoos can maximise the conservation of threatened species while retaining enough charismatics to attract the public. Now, I work for Natural England, advising on Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Nature Recovery Projects in the northwest.

How are you involved in this area of science? 

My PhD research focused on the implications of climate and land use change for modern conservation, and, importantly, how the global conservation community can respond to these challenges to maximise their impact.

This multi-faceted research touched on a range of scientific fields, from climate science and macroecology, to cutting-edge optimisation algorithms, and to human behaviour and understanding why we certain species appear to be innately appealing to humans.

I found that if both in situ (such as protected areas in the wild) and ex situ (such as zoo collections) approaches do not adapt rapidly and significantly in the face of a changing environment, conservation will not keep pace with accelerating climate and land use change.

However, my research showed that there is huge potential for adaptation, and we can conserve an order of magnitude more threatened biodiversity in zoos and protected areas, if we start making the required changes now.

What do you love about this topic?

I love this field of research because it combines the theoretical with the practical. Using models to characterise the world around us, and then use this information to make predictions about future scenarios, is not just an interesting thought experiment but a vital tool to apply practical interventions that can maximise conservation impact in future.

The future is inherently uncertain, but using these optimisation approaches shows what could be possible, and these examples can focus our collective efforts, galvanise support, and cut through some of the defeatism that can pervade the fields of conservation and climate science.

How does this work deliver real-world impact?

Another reason I love this field of research is that it has clear real-world impacts. For example, this research is the first of its kind to consider the implications of climate and land use change for global zoos, and specifically quantify how much threatened biodiversity could be conserved in modern zoos. Many studies, dating back to the 1980s, have recognised the ‘sustainability crisis’ in zoos.

However, none have yet provided explicit recommendations, at level of individual species, on how zoos should adapt if they are to maximise their contribution to global conservation, especially under global climate and land use change.