{"id":172,"date":"2026-08-01T23:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T22:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/?page_id=172"},"modified":"2026-08-17T11:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:42:03","slug":"research-in-eees","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/research\/research-in-eees\/","title":{"rendered":"Research in EEES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

EEES is home to a thriving research community with a shared vision to understand the processes and systems that nourish and sustain the world around us, from the microbial through to the planetary scale and beyond.

Activity is grouped into thematic areas: Astrobiology; Dynamic Earth; Earth System Modelling; Ecosystems; Educational Research; and Palaeoenvironmental Change; plus Analytical Facilities and PhD Students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Astrobiology\"
<\/i>

Astrobiology<\/h3>

Our unique approach to astrobiology research combines fieldwork, laboratory simulations, thermochemical modelling and in situ observations.<\/p><\/div><\/a>

\"environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Dynamic
<\/i>

Dynamic Earth<\/h3>

Our research focuses on quantifying the mechanisms and rates of key processes in the solid Earth system. We are at the forefront of developing analytical techniques to categorise the redistribution of economically important elements during crustal recycling. We use high-precision…<\/p><\/div><\/a>

\"environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Earth
<\/i>

Earth System Modelling<\/h3>

The Earth system modelling group applies a range of modelling tools to address interdisciplinary problems. Using these tools we explore the impacts of climate change on the Earth system and human society in the past, present and future.<\/p><\/div><\/a>

\"environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Ecosystems\"
<\/i>

Ecosystems<\/h3>

Our Ecosystems research investigates the ecology of organisms from microbes to plants and mammals, how they interact with each other, their environment and with people.<\/p><\/div><\/a>

\"environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Educational
<\/i>

Educational Research<\/h3>

The Educational Research Group conducts research and scholarship into teaching, learning and engagement across the Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences.<\/p><\/div><\/a>

\"environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Palaeoenvironmental
<\/i>

Palaeoenvironmental Change<\/h3>

An essential component of understanding climate change, and predicting its future progression and consequences, is determining the course and drivers of past changes in the Earth system from the geological record.<\/p><\/div><\/a>

\"environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers from EEES have made important contributions to unravelling the dynamics behind past mass extinction events deep in Earth history, the origins of the Himalaya, detecting the precursors of volcanic activity, and the evidence for life on other planets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a commitment to respond positively to the climate emergency, EEES researchers are searching for clues to our future deep in the past, as well as in remote and sensitive contemporary ecosystems and in the complex dynamics of the global financial and economic systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our research is extremely comprehensive in breadth and strongly interdisciplinary in flavour. Each Research Group supports its own focused research activity, but all groups are thoroughly connected to their own international research networks, as well as with collaborators across the School and the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our research is internationally recognised, bringing in net income consistently around \u00a32m per year, and scoring consistently well in national research assessment exercises. EEES research regularly appears in the top journals including Nature<\/em> and Science<\/em> and is frequently featured in mainstream news media. We are committed to engaging with the users and ultimate beneficiaries of our research, and the School has a distinguished track record at the forefront of engaged research and citizen science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To maintain and enhance all this activity, the School boasts an impressive suite of world-class laboratory facilities, and has comprehensive mentoring systems in place for external funding and career progression, most particularly for our energetic and diverse community of postgraduate researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We welcome enquiries for postdoctoral research positions and PhD studentships<\/a> please see our available opportunities or contact a relevant Research Group Lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EEES is home to a thriving research community with a shared vision to understand the processes and systems that nourish and sustain the world around us, from the microbial through to the planetary scale and beyond. Activity is grouped into thematic areas: Astrobiology; Dynamic Earth; Earth System Modelling; Ecosystems; Educational Research; and Palaeoenvironmental Change; plus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_unity_review_frequency":"","_unity_review_next_due":0,"_unity_review_reset_requested":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-172","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions\/223"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/environment-earth-and-ecosystem-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}