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Jane Catford

Professor Jane Catford

Professor of Ecological Change

Research interests

  • Environment
  • Geography

Biography

Professor Jane Catford is a plant community ecologist with an interest in community assembly, biological invasions, environmental change and biodiversity. She has worked in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems across the world, and uses theoretical, quantitative and empirical approaches in her work. She has established and maintains long-term field experiments in the US, UK and Australia, and collaborates widely.

She joined the Department of Geography in September 2018. Before moving to King’s, she was a Lecturer in Community Ecology at the University of Southampton. From 2012-2016, she held a research fellowship with the Australian Research Council and worked at The University of Melbourne, University of Minnesota and Australian National University.

She has worked as a consultant on projects involving: the prediction and management of exotic plant invasion; river health and environmental flow assessments; river restoration and rehabilitation; water sensitive urban design and the design of constructed wetlands.

She is an Editor for the journals Conservation Letters, Journal of Ecology and Neobiota, and is a member of the British Ecological Society's Publications Committee.

Qualifications

  • BA/BSc (Honours), Monash University, Australia
  • PGCAP, University of Southampton, UK
  • PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia

See her full profile on janecatford.com

Research

  • Causes and consequences of biological invasions
  • Using plant functional traits to understand responses to, and impacts of, global environmental change
  • Prediction and management of novel ecosystems
  • Community assembly, species coexistence and biodiversity
  • Ecosystem restoration and management
  • Ecosystem services (especially in rivers, wetlands, riparian zones and grasslands)
  • Ecological impacts of global environmental change, including climate change, river regulation and nitrogen deposition

Teaching

PhD supervision

Jane welcomes interested students to contact her about potential projects. 

Principal supervisor

Second supervisor

Further details

See Jane's research profile

    Research

    earth-banner
    Physical & Environmental Geography research group

    Researching the interactions between the Earth’s hydrological, geomorphological, atmospheric and ecological processes at different geographical scales.

    King's Water Centre Web Banner
    King's Water Centre

    Researching water, environment and development. Our centre spans the humanities, social, and physical sciences to explore the challenges of water governance from global to local scales.

    climate change hero
    King's Climate Research Hub

    Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.

    PEES image
    Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

    The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for work on the social (re)production of nature, environmental conservation and resource management.

    AlienImpacts

    AlienImpacts aims to develop an approach for accurately predicting impacts of alien plants on floristic diversity.

    Project status: Ongoing

    News

    King's hosts the Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium

    The symposium was an opportunity for ecologists and evolutionary biologists from across London to share their research on the topic 'Climate change and...

    Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium 2023, Bush House

    Deep dive into the 2023 King's Artists Programme

    As this year's King’s Artists programme concludes, discover more about this year's 6-month research and development collaborations, supported by King's Culture

    King's Artists Final Composite

    King's joins research network on ecology and evolutionary biology

    Researchers now have access to the Centre for Ecology & Evolution, a network of scientists looking to foster research collaboration in these fields.

    sustainable environment leaf plant

    Six new collaborations launched as part of King's Artists programme

    Artists-in-residence will collaborate with academics to explore imaginative approaches to research.

    composite image 6 tiles representing king's artists projects, from top left to bottom right a wooden box, a pro-choice protest, illustration of soundwaves, anatomy drawing, cyanotype portrait and an artwork with green plants

    IWD 2022: Women leading the way within SSPP

    The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy has its research endeavour entirely led by women and four women academics from the faculty have just been...

    SSPP's title and a montage of images relevant to the faculty's teaching and research

    Events

    25SepDesert and drought

    Hear from physical and environmental geographers

    Hear from academics in the Department of Geography about their research interests in physical and environmental geography.

    Please note: this event has passed.

      Research

      earth-banner
      Physical & Environmental Geography research group

      Researching the interactions between the Earth’s hydrological, geomorphological, atmospheric and ecological processes at different geographical scales.

      King's Water Centre Web Banner
      King's Water Centre

      Researching water, environment and development. Our centre spans the humanities, social, and physical sciences to explore the challenges of water governance from global to local scales.

      climate change hero
      King's Climate Research Hub

      Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.

      PEES image
      Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

      The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for work on the social (re)production of nature, environmental conservation and resource management.

      AlienImpacts

      AlienImpacts aims to develop an approach for accurately predicting impacts of alien plants on floristic diversity.

      Project status: Ongoing

      News

      King's hosts the Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium

      The symposium was an opportunity for ecologists and evolutionary biologists from across London to share their research on the topic 'Climate change and...

      Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium 2023, Bush House

      Deep dive into the 2023 King's Artists Programme

      As this year's King’s Artists programme concludes, discover more about this year's 6-month research and development collaborations, supported by King's Culture

      King's Artists Final Composite

      King's joins research network on ecology and evolutionary biology

      Researchers now have access to the Centre for Ecology & Evolution, a network of scientists looking to foster research collaboration in these fields.

      sustainable environment leaf plant

      Six new collaborations launched as part of King's Artists programme

      Artists-in-residence will collaborate with academics to explore imaginative approaches to research.

      composite image 6 tiles representing king's artists projects, from top left to bottom right a wooden box, a pro-choice protest, illustration of soundwaves, anatomy drawing, cyanotype portrait and an artwork with green plants

      IWD 2022: Women leading the way within SSPP

      The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy has its research endeavour entirely led by women and four women academics from the faculty have just been...

      SSPP's title and a montage of images relevant to the faculty's teaching and research

      Events

      25SepDesert and drought

      Hear from physical and environmental geographers

      Hear from academics in the Department of Geography about their research interests in physical and environmental geography.

      Please note: this event has passed.