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Conservation Research Institute

 

Biography

Katy Jeary (née Wilson) works on trade-off analysis within agricultural landscapes in particular between food security, livelihoods and ecosystem services. Her research aims to use agent-based modelling to understand the social and ecological impacts of land use policies in the Budongo Forest landscape of Uganda.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Master's degree in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London. I have experience working in policy and advocacy; researching, writing and communicating evidence on agricultural development, natural resource management and food security to international policymakers and development experts. My background is in applied ecology, resource management, international development, and natural resource modelling.

Research

Katy's research aims, through the use of an agent-based spatially explicit model and policy scenarios, to investigate the implementation strategies of land sparing and sharing and their impact on future land use patterns, on stakeholder behaviour and on food security and incomes. Land sparing and land sharing have been proposed as frameworks to explore the trade-offs between agricultural productivity and biodiversity conservation. Their assessment, however, has largely failed to consider the potential local level impacts on food security, ecosystem services and livelihoods. In the Budongo Forest Reserve and surrounding landscape, deforestation and land use change threaten the natural resources on which the majority of the population depend. I hope to expand the relevance of the land sparing and land sharing framework as a strategic land planning tool to include a broader number of factors. 

Publications

Key publications: 
PhD Student
 Katy  Jeary

Affiliations

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