The Ecosystem Change Research Group is a cross-disciplinary group spanning natural and human systems, focusing on how ecosystems have changed across past, present, and future timescales. The group is co-ordinated by Jessie Woodbridge (SoGEES) and Sophie Fauset (linking with the Ecology and Evolution Research Group, SoBMS), and also interacts with the Environment and Society Research Group (co-ordinated by Kim Ward, SoGEES).

The group brings together academic staff, researchers, technical staff, and postgraduate students, including expertise from physical geography, environmental science, earth science, palaeoecology, modern ecology, and biosciences. This connects physical, biological, and human processes to understand environmental change and its drivers.

A key aim of the research carried out within the group is to identify feedbacks, thresholds, and resilience mechanisms across spatial and temporal scales, and to translate these insights into applied solutions for conservation, restoration, and sustainability.

Activities include fortnightly meetings featuring research presentations, project development discussions, PhD and visitor talks, and informal sessions to generate new collaborative ideas.

Current research activity includes externally funded and under-review projects, such as Leverhulme Trust research on peatland resilience to fire, and applied projects with Defra and the Environment Agency on rainforest restoration and natural flood management.

Overall, the group aims to advance interdisciplinary understanding of ecosystem change and support evidence-based environmental decision-making across scales.