Melanie Jane Edgar (they/them)
My name is Melanie Jane Edgar and I am an environmental biologist. I completed my PhD at Manchester University. My research explored how grazing influences soil carbon and nitrogen storage, and greenhouse gas emissions in upland grasslands with the ultimate goal of providing a mechanistic understanding of the effects of grazing that can be used to formulate land management strategies for climate mitigation in the uplands. After completing my PhD, I transitioned into working in environmental policy working initially for Natural England as an Upland Conservation Advisor. Following this I worked for SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) as a Wildlife Biologist, the Forestry Commission developing woodland elements of the new environmental land management schemes, and I have recently moved into DEFRA to work on wider environmental land management scheme policy.