Spirit of the Swamps: Sustainable development through interdisciplinary research with a case study on the Wetlands of Amazonian Peru
In the last fifteen years scientists have shown that there is a huge amount of carbon locked up in the peaty soils of wetlands in western Amazonia. This talk introduces the ways in which that discovery has changed the ways in which these remote environments are viewed and valued by policymakers and local communities. We also look at how different disciplines have worked together to research and represent different viewpoints to build a holistic understanding of these critically important wetland ecosystems.
The masterclass is followed by an introduction to St Andrews University with the Undergraduate Admissions team.
Dr Ian Lawson
Dr Ian Lawson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews. His background is in Quaternary Palaeoecology (the study of environmental change during the ice ages). For the past decade he has been working as part of interdisciplinary teams on peatlands in Peru and in central Africa, mapping their spatial distribution, researching their geological history, analysing their vulnerability to current environmental change, and assessing their value to society today.