News

Cambridge PhD researcher Yihang She built a fully synthetic forest inside a videogame engine to train AI systems to recognise individual trees from drone lidar scans, cutting the labelling work behind forest surveys to a fraction of what traditional methods require.A drone swoops low over an alpine forest. It climbs suddenly to follow the contours …

Cambridge researchers used Tessera, a geospatial foundation model, to map tree species across the mountainous Trentino region in Italy, outperforming traditional satellite methods and opening the door to low-cost, continent-scale forest mapping.Forests are increasingly under threat from drought, storms, disease and logging. Mapping tree species hel…

The impact of road deaths on hedgehog populations, particularly smaller groups, is shown in a new study published in the journal Animal Conversation. Researchers studied four hedgehog populations in Nottinghamshire and found that vehicles killed between 15% and 29% of individuals each year, making roadkill the leading recorded cause of death, accou…

Exciting research by Emily Lines and her research group has recently been featured by the the BBC Tech Now show (starting at 4 min).  Emily and team are studying how forests are structured, how they function, and how humans are changing them, using lidar, drones and AI. As seen in the video, they are testing these approaches in Madingley Wood, the …

Research carried out by Dr Sarah Scott and colleagues in our Agroecology Group has shown that bumblebees are particularly vulnerable to metal pollution, which can impair foraging, reproduction and colony success, even at low contamination levels.Published in Ecological Entomology, the study found that bumblebees are exposed to higher levels of toxi…

Congratulations to Alice Lawrence on being awarded Student of the Year at the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) Awards for her work on recognising and supporting student carers. Alice is a PhD student in the Department of Geography and is based in the Conservation Research Institute.The NEON Awards celebrate excellence in widening acc…

Encouraging Swifts into CambridgeAs Swifts return to the David Attenborough Building, Dr Mike Rands, Master of Darwin College, talks about these magical birds.The joy of summer to some is signalled by the return of the Common Swift. In groups, swirling above our heads, their calls known as ‘screaming parties’ can often be heard from late spring. Hi…

Global mangrove forests recovering, offering hopeful sign for climate and coastal resilienceMangrove forests, once considered one of the world’s most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research that finds decades of losses largely offset by regrowth and expansion. The study, based on four decade…

Mining for ‘clean energy’ metals driving widespread forest loss in Africa, study findsA study involving the University of Cambridge has found that 187,000 hectares of forest were lost to mining activity in Africa between 2001 and 2020 - an area roughly equivalent to the country of Mauritius.'Cobalt and copper mining drives particularly high levels …

Informing the potential of mature temperate forests as natural climate solutions: Changed fine root biomass and morphology under elevated CO2Adriane Esquivel Muelbert and colleagues investigated the effects of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) on fine tree roots, the primary source of soil carbon. To increase the available surface area for water and nu…

Where migratory birds stop may determine their futureA study led by Dr Sayam Chowdhury of our Conservation Science Group, draws on more than 14 years of shorebird monitoring in Bangladesh, combined with satellite tracking across Asia, to offer important insights into the decline of migratory shorebird species.This research began with a simple but u…

Srinivasan Keshav, co-lead of the TESSERA project at the University of Cambridge, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.Srinivasan Keshav, a renowned expert in computer networking and pioneer in energy informatics, joins the country’s most prestigious scientific fellowship.Srinivasan Keshav, co-principal investigator of the TESSERA project at t…

TESSERA - the AI model helping to protect hedgehogs from spaceHedgehogs are under threat in this country. Government surveys suggest their numbers have fallen by up to 75% in rural areas since the turn of the century, and sightings of them in our gardens are rare. But now these much-loved animals are getting help from an unlikely new ally: AI.Resea…

Prof. Lynn Dicks reappointed to the Board of Natural England for a second three-year term.Professor Lynn Dicks has been reappointed for a second three-year term on the Board  of Natural England. This term began on 29 April 2026 and will run until 28 April 2029. Lynn will continue to serve in her role as Co-Chair of Natural England’s Science Advisor…

Support local people to protect world’s nature, new report urges, as deadline for global conservation target loomsAchieving an international conservation target to protect almost a third of the world’s land and sea in the next four years could directly affect the lives of almost half the people on the planet, finds a new report."Planning land-use c…