Understanding impacts of innovative agri-tech pest and disease control solutions on biodiversity and emergent ecosystem processes

The University of York offers a PhD project focused on assessing innovative agri-tech pest and disease control solutions' impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems. This NERC-funded initiative aims to reduce reliance on traditional pesticides through technologies like robotic weeding and drone applications. The project involves systematic reviews, technology trials, and stakeholder engagement to understand barriers to adoption in farming. Students will collaborate with experts across various disciplines.
Are you passionate about solving complex environmental challenges? Interested in creating non-toxic urban spaces that benefit society and nature alike?

This exciting PhD project, part of the NERC-funded ECOSOLUTIONS Doctoral Focal Award, offers the opportunity to help tackle the problem of rural landscapes and food systems

About the Project

Emergent agri-technology pest management solutions provide an opportunity to support agricultural production while reducing reliance on traditional pesticides. Robotic weeding technologies or targeted drone-based insecticide application can offset conventional field-scale applications (reducing diffuse pollution and non-target species exposure) and have synergistic effects, promoting ecosystem processes. These benefits are largely unquantified relative to business-as-usual (BAU) conventional farming systems which vary from relatively extensive regenerative to high intensity agrichemical- dependent management approaches. While there is a focus on emerging legal regulatory systems to integrate adoption of agri-tech approaches, there are also significant socio-economic and cultural adoption barriers. This PhD will address the following: 1) Systematic review of agri-tech solutions to pest and disease management identifying evidence for efficacy relative to BAU controls, considering moderating effects of geographical region, crop and pest type; 2) Technology development and trialing, applying replicated plot-based approach in real world farming systems to test impacts of emerging agri-tech pest control solutions (robotic weeding and drone-based approach) compared to BAU. This will use structural equation modeling to partition direct and indirect effects of technology on biodiversity, emergent ecosystem provisions and crop productivity; 3) Using a co-production approach with strong stakeholder engagement within the farming community we will aim to understand cultural, economic, generational and farming system barriers to widespread adoption. This project will apply a systems approach to understanding the environmental trade-offs and synergies emerging from adoption of new technologies that aim to reduce reliance on conventional pesticide inputs in arable systems, plus options for managing trade-offs and maximizing synergies.

The ECOSOLUTIONS DFA Led by the Universities of Sheffield and York and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, ECOSOLUTIONS is a cutting-edge, transdisciplinary initiative. This innovative programme combines science, policy, and societal engagement to transform chemicals policy and management, enabling a safe, sustainable chemicals sector and non-toxic environments. This project is one of 16 projects that are available for the second ECOSOLUTIONS cohort who will work together to begin to understand and solve the problems of rural landscapes and food systems

What You will Gain

As an ECOSOLUTIONS PhD student, you will work with world-leading experts across diverse fields such as ecology, chemistry, geography, psychology, environmental engineering, policy, and law. You will learn to tackle the risks posed by chemicals while enabling their societal benefits, adopting a whole-systems and solutions-focused approach.

You will receive 3 years and 9 months of funding and take part in a dynamic training and development programme, including:

• Induction course: Connect with fellow students, supervisors, and the ECOSOLUTIONS team while exploring the programme’s mission.

• Primer course: Gain foundational knowledge on chemical impacts, policy landscapes, and sustainable chemical innovation.

• Transferable skills workshops: Master data management, big data methods, research practices, communication, and more.

• Systems-solutions workshops: Collaborate across disciplines to address pollution in rural landscapes and food systems and develop actionable solutions

• Three-month secondment: NFFN and/or JNCC

• International conferences: Share your findings and network with global experts.

The skills you will need

To do this project you will need the following essential skills: Laboratory skills, Field experience, Data analysis and/or modelling

Suggestions : Basic Robotics like using ROS2, Python/C++ programming, understanding of basic movements of ground mobile robots and drones, An interest and GCSE Level knowledge about biology and ecology, as this project will be applied to agriculture.

Eligibility:

To be considered for the ECOSOLUTIONS DFA, you will need at least an upper 2nd class honours degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline.

As a collaboration of international research-led universities, we welcome students from all walks of life and from across the world. Within our programme, we are dedicated to diversifying our community.

As part of our ongoing work to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion we strongly encourage applications from UK/Home candidates from identified underrepresented groups: Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, those from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, and disabled people.

Start Your Research Career with ECOSOLUTIONS:

This PhD is part of the ECOSOLUTIONS Doctoral Focal Award (DFA), a prestigious NERC-funded program dedicated to training the next generation of environmental practitioners. For more details and a full list of other PhD projects under this programme, visit: https://ecosolutions.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/

For more information on how to apply, please visit the ECOSOLUTIONS website:

https://ecosolutions.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/

Prior to applying we ask that you contact the Principal investigator to discuss the project: Dr Pragna Das: pragna.das@york.ac.uk