What we do at the Centre for Environment and Society

Our areas of research

Water, health and humans

Focusing on surface and groundwater systems, water quality and wastewater treatment and reuse, we seek to optimise the responsible management of water resources and protection of human health and aquatic ecosystems.

Our internationally excellent academics work with and advise regional, national and international organisations (governments, NGO’s, environmental regulators) to help protect and improve the freshwater and marine environment. We do this by focusing on areas including:

• Surface and groundwater processes: here our scientists work on groundwater, river, floodplain, wetland, glacial, ocean and coastal environments. Focusing on areas including sedimentology, plant ecology; fish biology; geomorphology; fluvial hydrology; and role of nature-based solutions.  
• Water and wastewater quality, treatment and reuse: research here includes the use of technologies to tackle water scarcity, monitoring and mitigate risks to human and environmental health from aquatic contaminants, pathogens and stressors, including emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products and microplastics.
• Water resources and people: here our researchers help to support the diverse range of social and cultural values, benefits and functions that derive from healthy aquatic ecosystems. This includes areas such as past climate histories, change and adaptation; sustainable management and governance; human health and wellbeing; and waterways as heritage spaces.

People, nature and place

We produce new knowledges and approaches that aim to identify and address damaged relations between people and nature across a range of geographical and policy contexts.

We seek to develop new and meaningful ways of thinking and working collaboratively to effect more just and sustainable futures, bringing together pluralistic perspectives from science, social science and environmental humanities, and from community knowledges. We do this through three related lines of enquiry and practice:     

• People, spaces and nature engagements: the use, governance and regulation of land and waterscapes for production, recreation and/or wellbeing, addressing issues such as access, property rights, citizenship and self-governance under conditions of environmental change. Research topics range from blue-green infrastructures and urban ‘liveability’, community gardens and regenerative farming, to extractivism and community responses in the global South.    

• Nature, power and knowledges: how do we ‘know’ nature? Whose knowledge counts? How does this shape response-ability? Our researchers seek to understand intersections between nature, materiality, technology, agency, change, difference, and the human/more-than-human. Our work ranges from theoretical work around racism, migration, territory and sovereign power to examination of the politics of knowledge production and voice in environmental management, planning and research-for-sustainable development.  

• Speculative people-nature imaginaries: our researchers undertake research that imagines future possibilities for better people-nature relations, from innovative design of nature-based solutions to forms of storytelling and creative practice around alternatives to extractive environmental activities.     

Our researchers work with a breadth of social science research tools, including participant observation; questionnaires, interviews and focus groups; co-productive, participatory and creative methods.  

Geoscience and society 

Focusing on earth science and geomorphology, our international experts work with regional and national organisations (NGOs, government bodies and environmental regulators) and commercial enterprises on a range of topics at the interface of geoscience and society.

Our primary research areas include:

• Critical minerals: our researchers focus on the genesis of rare earth element and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, vital for the development of modern technologies including smart devices, computers and renewable energy generation.
• Geomorphology and landscape change: research includes the use of advanced sensors, GIS and statistical modelling techniques to detect contemporary sediment processes and landform change for enhanced river management. Our scientists also seek to understand glacial and periglacial processes and landforms, to reconstruct Quaternary environments and inform ground engineering models.
• Geomorphology and heritage science: our researchers are developing new techniques to understand the sources of stone materials used in the construction of World Heritage Sites such as Stonehenge, working closely with partners including English Heritage and Historic England. 

Ecology and conservation

Our research is aimed at understanding the consequences of human activities on ecological processes, species, populations, communities and ecosystems. We focus our research on understanding the relationship between biodiversity conservation and society in order to assist in the maintenance and restoration of functioning and resilient ecological systems. Our research has real-world impact due to its applied nature, by helping to inform relevant conservation, mitigation and management strategies – from local to global scales. 

Our researchers possess expertise across a breadth of taxonomic groups (including plants, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals) and field-, lab- and desk-based methodological approaches (including ecological surveys, citizen science, animal tracking, camera trapping, spatial modelling in GIS, drones, molecular genetics, and survey questionnaires and interviews).

We work with a wide range of collaborators across the ecological and conservation sector, from charities and trusts to councils and consultants, applying innovative and interdisciplinary research in order to help achieve solutions to conservation problems that benefit people and nature. Our demand-driven work local to the University of Brighton focuses on the ‘city, coast and countryside’ and includes collaborations with The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, South Downs National Park Authority and Knepp Wildland. 

Our research focus includes: Behavioural ecology, biodiversity, citizen science, conservation biology, conservation in-practice, conservation translocations, community ecology, ecotoxicology, human-wildlife interactions and coexistence, habitat management, landscape ecology, molecular ecology, nature-based solutions, restoration ecology, urban ecology, and zoonoses.

Environmental data and spatial intelligence

Harnessing the power of advanced geospatial technologies and environmental data, we aim to better understand, monitor, and manage the Earth’s dynamic systems. Our research supports sustainable decision-making by integrating cutting-edge spatial analysis, remote sensing, and geostatistical methods with critical environmental applications.

Our internationally renowned academics collaborate with governmental agencies, NGOs, industry leaders, and academic institutions worldwide to address complex environmental challenges. We do this by focusing on areas including:

• Earth observation and remote sensing: Our scientists leverage satellite, UAV, and airborne data to study land cover dynamics, climate change impacts, vegetation health, hydrological systems, and disaster response. We also develop innovative algorithms for data processing, feature extraction, and environmental monitoring.
• Spatial analysis and big data: Research in this area involves integrating GIS, machine learning, and cloud computing to analyse vast datasets, uncover spatial patterns, and model environmental processes. Applications include fluvial modelling, biodiversity conservation, soil and water quality analysis, and public health mapping.
• Environmental data for decision support: We work to bridge the gap between science and policy by developing user-friendly tools, and approaches that translate complex data into actionable insights. Our work supports initiatives in natural resource management, climate adaptation, sustainable development, and environmental governance.
• Environmental modelling and prediction: Using geospatial models, we simulate scenarios to understand and predict environmental changes. This includes sediment transport modelling, flood risk mapping, carbon sequestration estimation, and habitat connectivity studies.

Our impact and outreach from the Centre for Environment and Society

Impact activities for the Centre for Environment and Society focus on addressing environmental and societal challenges across all sectors, including science, policy, industry, public education, and heritage preservation.

Many of these activities are interdisciplinary; highlights include:

• Urgent monitoring work in response to DEFRA’s call for assistance looking into the impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on the atmosphere (atmosphere and anthroposphere research and policy activities)
• Data and engagement with OSPAR, the regulator for the appointment of Marine Protected Area status in areas of the high seas (hydrosphere and biosphere research activities)
• Best practice advice in mining for BHP (lithosphere and anthroposphere research and enterprise activities)
• Engineering solutions to preserve Egyptian heritage and the lives of people in surrounding sites from earthquake damage by harnessing satellite observations of deformation (anthroposphere and lithosphere research activities). 

Central to Centre for Environment and Society enterprise impact is sUAV (drone) consultancy for a diverse range of Earth observation applications, from topographical feature monitoring, to wild mammal mapping.

We also leverage real world impact through our state-of-the-art facilities from our geochemical laboratories equipped with portable and laboratory XRF, ICP-MS and –OES and FTIR, to our Image Analysis Suite (extending the scale of Earth observation to the microscopic level).

More details on our funded research projects can be found on our Centre for Environment and Society research data site.

Our research output from the Centre for Environment and Society

Details of research publications and other outputs fostered by the centre and achieved by its members, along with funded projects delivered by the centre, can be accessed on the centre's database of research. 

• Visit the Centre for Environment and Society overview page on our database
• Visit the record of our research publications and other outputs
• Visit the record of our funded research projects