Contact Professor Jane Rickson

Areas of expertise

  • Carbon, Climate and Risk
  • Environmental Policy
  • Natural Capital
  • Soil
  • Soil Resources
  • Water Science and Engineering

Background

BSc (Hons) in Geography (2i), King's College, University of London Diploma of the Associateship of King's College (A.K.C.), London MSc in Agricultural Engineering (Land Resource Management), Silsoe College (awarded full NERC scholarship) PhD 'The use of geotextiles for soil erosion control', Cranfield University Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv).

Current activities

Professor Jane Rickson has over 30 years' experience of research, consultancy and teaching in soil and water engineering, specialising in soil degradation processes and sustainable land management. Her work has focused on better understanding of soil functions and their role in the delivery of ecosystems goods and services, including water regulation, agricultural production and carbon storage. She uses multi-disciplinary approaches to integrate fundamental and applied land resources science at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Her work is directed at Research Councils, industry, farmers and policy makers. Recent projects include: Development of a Soil Management Information System (AHDB); Better understanding of the soil protection landscape (Defra); Developing a conceptual framework for a soil impact metric for agricultural and commodity supply chains (Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge; CISL); Review of the England and Wales soils evidence base (Welsh Government); Provision of research to develop the evidence base on soil erosion (Committee on Climate Change, Adaptation Sub Committee); and The total costs of soil degradation in England & Wales (Defra). She is also involved in the training and teaching on Masters courses in Land Reclamation and Restoration, Environmental Engineering, and Soil Management, as well as bespoke short courses on soil erosion and conservation. Consultancy activities include soil erosion and remediation in mine site rehabilitation. Jane is a Fellow and was President of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers from 2018 to 2020, a Chartered Environmentalist, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists.

Clients

Working with clients from the private and public sectors, including: ADAS Alcoa of Australia BBSRC British Council CIRIA City of London Authority Common Fund for Commodities CPRE Defra Environment Agency EU Horticulture Development Company International Trade Centre Marks & Spencers WWF Ministry of Defence National Jute Board of India Syngenta Tribhuvan University, Nepal TRL UN WRAP.

Publications

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

Books