Dr Fiona Sanderson

My main research focus is the impact of international agriculture on biodiversity and how such research can be used to inform policy solutions to make agriculture more sustainable, tackling the problem of producing food and other commodities to meet increasing demand whilst conserving biodiversity and carbon stocks.

I am also interested in the effectiveness of policy instruments designed to protect and enhance biodiversity, such as the EU Birds Directive and UN-REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation). The main geographical focus of my work is Europe and West Africa.

I am an experienced researcher and specialise in the analysis of large (up to continental-scale) spatial and non-spatial datasets and the application of non-standard statistical techniques.

My current and recent work includes:

• Leading a Cambridge Conservation Initative-funded collaboration with Robert Beyer (involving BirdLife, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme and Cambridge University) to examine the environmental footprint of palm oil and other vegetable oils,
• Working with Mark Hulme on the impact of cocoa rehabilitation on biodiversity in the area around Gola Rainforest National Park, a UN-REDD accredited site,
• Analysing the impact of the EU Birds Directive on bird population trends across the EU.

I currently manage two other scientists, and I also sometimes supervise Masters students.