Environmental Science seminars

Omar M. Yaghi examines how reticular chemistry changes the scale and diversity of materials that chemists can design. By joining molecular building blocks into extended structures, researchers have developed large families of metal–organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks with tunable internal spaces and functions. The lecture asks how artificial intelligence and robotics could accelerate the preparation and exploration of these materials, moving chemical discovery from scarcity toward abundance. Yaghi connects this approach to carbon capture and the collection of water from air, building on design principles for nanoporous frameworks and their applications in gas storage and separation. The discussion extends the metal–organic framework research recognised by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry into current methods for discovery and environmental applications.

Sanne Evers introduces the first forecasting challenge organized by the European Ecological Forecasting Initiative. The challenge uses long-running observations from Doñana National Park in southern Spain to support short-term predictions of vegetation indices and the abundance of multiple shrub species. Forecasting these changes can inform habitat management, productivity assessments and conservation decisions under climatic and hydrological pressures. The seminar explains why Doñana’s range of habitats and monitoring infrastructure offer a useful setting for comparing predictions before new observations become available. It also discusses lessons from developing the challenge and planned next steps, with participation encouraged across ecological disciplines and levels of forecasting experience.

David Cooper assesses progress towards the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 2030 targets and 2050 goals. He explains why biodiversity matters for human security and wellbeing, drawing on recent assessments of conditions in the UK and globally. The lecture considers prospects for recovery and argues that conservation efforts need complementary changes across economic sectors and society to address biodiversity loss and support people and nature together.

Steven Bernstein examines how international norms and practices interact to produce change and continuity in global governance. Contemporary descriptions of a rupture in the international order may exaggerate some changes while overlooking slower developments over preceding decades. The lecture develops four scenarios of change, using examples from ecological governance, development and the rules-based international system to assess the strengths and limitations of prevailing conceptual frameworks.

Preventing biological invasions requires coordinated action before and after organisms arrive. This seminar examines the regulatory frameworks, biosecurity practices, public education and collective action used to reduce introductions and manage invasive species.

Agriculture and urban development threaten soil processes that sustain biodiversity, nutrient cycling, water regulation and climate resilience. The seminar examines how ecosystem-based interventions can restore soils, and why soil health must itself be built into the design of those interventions. Examples from the SOLU-BIOD research programme in France and abroad connect ecological restoration with food and water security. The discussion also considers practical barriers to adoption and the public policies needed to support implementation.