To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month the Museum is sharing the stories of 27 inspirational women, alongside the animals they work with the most.

Dr Michela Leonardi

Department of Zoology

“If we want to improve conservation strategies in the face of the current climate emergency, we need to understand how climate influences animal  distribution in the absence of human activity. This is only possible by looking at the past.

I have done so for horses, collecting over 3,000 observations in archaeological sites (as it is one of the most common species found). I then calculated how past climates influenced their distribution in the last 40,000 years. The methods developed allow a much better estimate of the impact of the future climate on animal species, helping improve their conservation.”

Check out the Evolutionary Ecology Group research site or follow them on Twitter for more on Michela’s or other’s projects.

You can hear Elia Benito-Gutierrez talk about her research on our YouTube channel in Celebrating Women in Science and Conservation. Skip to 15 minutes 45 sec for Michela’s talk or delve into her work more deeply here.

Have a go at surviving extreme climate change with Michela’s Climate Change board game. Free to print and play at home:

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