Reebecca Morris

PhD topic title: Urban gardens to improve health, biodiversity and climate change resilience in cities in Bangladesh

PhD supervisors: Professor Helen Elsey, Dr Anika Haque & Professor Piran White 

Biography and research

I have a broad background in conservation of tropical ecosystems, herpetology and molecular biology. I have a BSc in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and an MSc in Conservation Biology, where I investigated reptile and amphibian communities in a recovering rainforest in Peru. I have also spent a number of years in zookeeping, teaching, infectious disease diagnostics, biogeography and phylogenomics research. 

My PhD research will focus on green spaces in anthropogenically modified landscapes in the global south, particularly in low income urban areas of Bangladesh. I will explore urban greening policies, the benefits of green spaces for peoples’ health and wellbeing, their utilisation by wildlife, and how they can mitigate the impacts of climate change. In the face of the Anthropocene, I am interested in optimising land use for ecosystems services that benefit both biodiversity and people collectively.