Kristian George Suszczenia
PhD Researcher at Queen Mary University of London
Our individual lifestyles, and the society that supports them, are entirely founded upon and embedded within nature – our food, our water, our materials, our wellbeing, and our stable environment. Yet a worldview which sees society and economy as distinct from and above nature, using it for short term gains, is undermining these vital foundations; Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs). In this role, I am modelling and exploring that weave between people and planet by creating “socio-ecological networks”; where species and people are modelled together in a single system. This will allow us to explore how biodiversity loss is cascading through our ecosystem to impact people by collapsing NCPs. I will also explore how this kind of network-based thinking can be used to conceptualise, communicate and actualise an alternative “Fabric of Life” worldview ([Diaz 2022](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8336)); where we see ourselves as a crucial thread in an inseparably interwoven people-planet fabric. Thus, allowing our decision making – from consumer to policymaker – to go from undermining our natural foundations to supporting them. I am coming from a biology undergraduate and Master’s research at the University of Oxford, where I joined WildCRU to develop new software to help conservation practitioners plan for connectivity of habitats and movement of species as climate change progresses. I am also trained and have authored in family and public engagement with biodiversity science, and have consulted on social and ecological future risks, for EU NGOs, international charities, and the UK government.