John is Professor of Forest Sciences at Bangor University, the UK’s leading university for forestry. John has spent his whole professional career at Bangor, starting as a specialist in tropical forestry, but now with sustainable management and silviculture of UK woodlands as a major component of his research and teaching. The huge challenges posed by the climate and biodiversity crises are an increasingly dominant focus. He is a section chief editor for the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.

John is a member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and has recently participated in a number of evidence review, expert group, horizon scan and advisory committee roles. He also brings a breadth of perspectives ranging from his role as Director of Research for the Bangor University college spanning the whole of science and engineering, to that of manager of two small woodlands.

As an ecological scientist, John’s approach is very much based on a whole-systems’ perspective. His work has a strongly applied orientation and he has long been engaged at the interface of science with policy and practice, which he hopes to develop further via membership of the Board of Woodknowledge Wales.

The scope of John’s current research and publications can be summarised as the ecology, management and ecosystem services of forests and agroforestry systems. Key themes include the role in the global carbon cycle of forests and their products, climate change impact on forests and coral reefs, forest biodiversity conservation at species, site and landscape scales, including the impact of invasive species and pathogens, drivers of forest degradation, and the ecological basis of forest restoration and sustainable forest management. Research on agroforestry includes its role in livelihoods and mitigating deforestation and climate change.