David is an environmental geographer working at the intersections between knowledge, policy, and practice in the environmental sphere - particularly nature conservation and sustainable agriculture. He is interested in the ways in which knowledge (scientific or lay) comes to impinge on policy and practice, and particularly how knowledge created in practice can influence decisions made at higher levels of governance.

David was previously a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge and University College London.

David has worked as part of the EU Biodiversity Network (EU BON) which seeks to improve the use of biodiversity data in policy-making. This has been an important, but challenging project, since his previous work has indicated that the relationship between scientific knowledge and practice is rarely linear or top-down. Instead, decision-making is complex and scientific knowledge can only ever inform policy alongside a range of other factors. David pursued this research within the Departments of Geography and Zoology, and the Centre for Science and Policy.

David's PhD focused on interactions between knowledge and government policy in UK nature conservation, and provided tangible advice for conservation scientists seeking to improve the knowledge-policy interface for evidence-based policy-making. David's previous post formed part of Defra's Sustainable Intensification Platform, specifically addressing how scientific knowledge in the form of decision support tools was taken up and used by farmers. The research illustrated that uptake of decision support tools in practice was influenced by a range of factors, which were not always fully appreciated by the research community.

Recent publications

Barriers/solutions to evidence-informed conservation policy: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/conl.12564

User-centred technology design: http://bit.ly/2EvLPMZ

Interviews methods paper: bit.ly/2D3uZYA

Agri-tech and societal impacts: http://bit.ly/2CQWvUP

The use of research in the UK Parliament: lessons for conservation scientists: http://bit.ly/2FscLNK

The role of research in the UK Parliament: http://bit.ly/2BEFX2n

Decision support tool design tips: http://bit.ly/2D3XKEa

Policy windows for the environment: http://bit.ly/2f3C8g2

Co-production of evidence: http://bit.ly/2yEIp7v

Decision support tool user design: http://bit.ly/2CSgouR

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v522/n7555/full/522156d.html

http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n7/full/nclimate2270.html

http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n12/full/nclimate2440.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12444/full