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. Sarah Luke

Department of Zoology

“I am interested in the effects of habitat change on biodiversity, and development of possible strategies for conservation. My current work is based in oil palm plantations in Indonesia where we are running large-scale field experiments to test possible strategies for making oil palm plantations more sustainable.

In our largest experiment we have planted thousands of native tree seedlings in order to try and restore the areas around rivers. As the trees grow we are monitoring if they bring benefits for biodiversity and environmental conditions within the river, along the riverbanks and also for the surrounding plantation.”

Discover more about Sarah’s research in A Diversity of Dragonflies in Oil Palm Plantations.

Sarah has also contributed to our Biodiversity Week: Our solutions are in nature resource. Made with secondary students in mind, it delves into the ecological considerations and collaborative research projects in agricultural landscapes.

Find out more about this research on the Insect Ecology Group Site or follow them on Twitter: @InsectGroup

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