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Lindsay Stringer

Professor, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York

Lindsay Stringer

Lindsay is Professor in Environment and Development at the Department of Environment and Geography at  the University of York.

Her research advances understanding of human-environment relationships focusing on:

  • The links between livelihoods and environment
  • Science, policy and environmental governance, and
  • The practical and policy mechanisms that can advance sustainable development.

In 2013, Lindsay was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize for her work on environmental change and sustainable development in drylands. In 2015 she was presented with a Women of Achievement Award. Lindsay was co-Director and then Director of the Sustainability Research Institute from 2011-2014.

Lindsay’s research is interdisciplinary and uses theories and methods from both the natural and social sciences. Her work engages significantly with research users, and is instrumental in informing international policy interventions through the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Lindsay is currently a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Regional Assessment for Africa, as well as Lead Author for the IPBES Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment. She is a member of the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative working group on Options and Pathways to Action and chairs the Independent Task Force of the CGIAR’s Research Programme on Dryland Systems, which is commissioned to develop a global research in development programme to achieve sustainable livelihoods for dryland populations that depend on agriculture.

Lindsay has worked and travelled in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas. She has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals, as well as a book, book chapters, working papers, book reviews, magazine articles and policy reports. She has presented her work at international conferences across the world. In addition, Lindsay has an international consultancy reputation, undertaking commissioned work on several occasions for the United Nations, as well as for the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID) and various other agencies and organisations.

Lindsay has recently been involved in projects funded by bodies such as the UK’s Joint Research Councils (NERC, ESRC, BBSRC) under the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme, the Leverhulme Trust, the European Commission (Framework Programmes 6 and 7), the British Academy, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative (through GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), and DfID/NERC/ESRC under the Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation and Future Climate For Africa Programmes. She also participated in the inaugural Homeward Bound Project women in science leadership programme in Antarctica in December 2016.

Qualifications

BSc Geography (University of Sheffield); MSc Environmental Monitoring and Assessment in Drylands (University of Sheffield); PhD Geography (University of Sheffield)

Memberships/Fellowships

Lindsay sits on the editorial board of the journals Land Degradation and Development; and Resources. She is an elected advisory board member of international scientific network DesertNet International for which she also chairs the Food Security Working Group, and she represents the University of Leeds in the international OSLO consortium, where she provides scientific coordination. Lindsay is also a working group member for Global Soil Week and an IPCC reviewer.

Research Interests

Environmental and land use change (including social, political and economic dimensions); land degradation and desertification; participatory processes; livelihood dynamics; environmental governance.

Research articles

Books

Working papers

Policy publications