Sustainable Futures/Climate Change, Sustainability and Society
PhD Researcher in Sustainable Futures (ESRC 1+3)
College of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Exeter
Start date: October 2020
Research topic: Saving which bees? Investigating the social & economic impacts of rewilding honeybees.
I’m an ecologist moving into social science, and this interdisciplinary project will explore sustainability in beekeeping. There’s increasing interest in rewilding honeybees to facilitate survival of this economically and environmentally critical pollinator outside of managed hives. Working with beekeepers and other stakeholders, I’ll investigate ecological impacts of changing practices using field data, the BEEHAVE model and disease analysis. Using Q-methodology and Social Network Analysis, I’ll investigate how perspectives and practice change over the course of this collaborative research, with aims to enhance communication among the beekeeping community, scientists and policymakers, and facilitate evidence-led action for pollinators (managed and wild).
Research supervisors: Dr Karen Scott, Professor Martin Parker, Professor Juliet Osborne, Professor Stefano Pascucci
Professional memberships/Positions held:
MCIEEM: Member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management
Email: fk300@exeter.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faykahane/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FayKahane