Regenerative agriculture contribution to ecosystem services

Historic soil degradation from conventional agricultural management practices such as ploughing, mono-cropping and high inputs has caused significant environmental damage leading to the degradation of water and air, biodiversity and ecosystems. Improving land management is a key area of focus for delivery of the green economy. Managing and using land sustainably to protect and improve our natural environment through regenerative agricultural practices is gaining significant interest from farmers, businesses and governments. This is due to its potential to offer a method of crop production that produces food whilst simultaneously restoring soil health and biodiversity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving resilience to drought and flooding. The success of regenerative agriculture to restore soil structure and fertility is built on the premise that minimising cultivation and growing plants with different rooting systems improves soil structure and fertility through creating channels through the soil, adding soil organic matter and supporting a diverse range of soil organisms and promoting water infiltration. This project will investigate the impact of regenerative agricultural practices on soil biota, soil health and water infiltration, and how this then affects the resilience of these systems to climate change e.g. drought and flooding events. The results of this project will be used to advise agri-environment schemes and policies to reduce the environmental impacts of crop production and its potential contribution to NetZero and climate resilience.

Eligibility

The minimum entry requirements for PhD study is a 2.1 honours degree, or equivalent, in a subject relating to your proposed area of research, or a good performance in a Masters level course in a relevant subject. A first class honours degree (or equivalent) is usually required to be competitive for scholarship funding and a Masters degree is also a valuable asset.

If English is not your first language, you’ll need to provide evidence of a language qualification. The minimum English language entry requirement for postgraduate research study in the Faculty of Biological Sciences is an IELTS of 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid.

How to Apply

1) Complete the University of Leeds online application form

Select ‘NERC YES DTN Yorkshire Environmental Sciences’ as the Planned Course of Study.

The supporting documents needed to process your application are:

• certificates and transcripts of any academic qualifications
• English language qualification certificates
• visa and immigration documents

All documents should be in English or be accompanied by a certified translation into English. 

They can be sent via the online research degree application or can be emailed to ENV-PGR@leeds.ac.uk after you have submitted your application. Your email should include your student ID number (emailed to you on submission of your application), full name and your intended course of study. Please do not send original documents at the application stage and only provide documents via email.

2) Complete the YES.DTN application form. This is available on the YES•DTN website