I am pleased to announce the launch today of the Institute for Studies in Landscape and Human Evolution (ISLHE) following agreement of UET in January of this year. We are grateful for the support of Professor John Fletcher and the initial investment to get this initiative underway. The new institute will focus on some of the most fundamental questions about our own species using a multidisciplinary approach.
What drove the evolution of our species? Why did some species in the human family tree become extinct while others did not? What role did climate change and landscape processes play in guiding this evolution? These are fundamental questions about our own origins and what drove our evolution. The Institute’s research agenda is focused on tackling these questions from a landscape-based perspective integrating palaeoanthropology, ecology and remote sensing with earth and computer sciences. Additionally, a key part of our mission is to collaborate with computer animators to bring our science alive in the imagination of both scientific and popular audiences.
We are focusing initially on agent-based models of hominins within landscapes and we have a number of funding applications pending to drive this forward. The Institute will be led by me in association with Sally Reynolds (Sci-Tech) who joined the university last summer and is an expert in hominin palaeoecology. We are pursuing an open and inclusive agenda with the aim of collaborating with anyone interested in getting involved. The initial proposal was supported by Adrian Newton, Amanda Korstjens, John Stewart, Bogdan Gabrys and Peter Truckel.
We are planning a formal launch later in the year, with a keynote speaker, and will be holding an open meeting for all those interested in finding out more and getting involved on the 25 March and details of this will follow shortly.
From a personal point of view it is great to be back focused on my research and teaching – life after the suit is good and long may it continue!
Professor Matthew Bennett
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