Dr Laurence Jones has joined Liverpool Hope as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science.
Dr Jones has over 20 years’ research experience with an international reputation in the fields of coastal ecology, ecosystem services, pollution and land use change. His coastal research focuses primarily on sand dune ecological processes and their responses to pollution, climate change and management.
The University leads the European Sand Dune and Shingle Network, and Dr Jones has interacted with colleagues in the network for more than a decade on dune ecological research questions.
Paul Rooney, Director of the Sand Dune and Shingle Network and Assistant Head of Department at Liverpool Hope, said: "We are delighted to welcome Dr Jones as our new Visiting Professor. This appointment strengthens our work to better understand and conserve these internationally important dune environments.
“Dr Jones’ contact with Hope students will help to ensure that they gain the ecological and environmental expertise required to meet future challenges in this dynamic coastal environment.”
As a Visiting Professor, Dr Jones will deliver lectures, contribute to research seminars, and will help develop field-based teaching methods for dune ecology, including setting up new ecological research sites at sand dune systems on the Sefton Coast and in mid-Wales where Liverpool Hope own a field centre at Plas Caerdeon on the Mawddach Estuary, Snowdonia National Park.