The Leverhulme Trust

Body size in animals impacts form and function, evolution and extinction, and is the foundation of numerous ‘biological laws’. One such law is the Island Rule, which states that on islands, large mammals tend to evolve smaller body sizes (insular dwarfism), whereas small mammals tend to evolve larger body sizes (insular gigantism). Using a cross-disciplinary suite of methods to study a broad range of fossil giants alongside their living, non-giant relatives, Philip Cox and his team at UCL aim to determine if a rule governs how and why island gigantism evolves. Read now in our media collection: https://lnkd.in/eThxw7Jq

What can prosperity possibly mean on a finite planet? For decades, we have equated rising prosperity with economic growth and many societies have succeeded beyond expectation. And yet something doesn’t add up. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and political economy, Professor Tim Jackson’s fellowship at the University of Surrey aims to present an economically viable and politically meaningful vision of prosperity for the twenty-first century. Read now: https://lnkd.in/eXNMkvdp

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is believed to be particularly vulnerable due to the effects of climate change and could contribute up to five metres of sea level rise, enough to threaten large populations around the world. Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow, Professor Eric Wolff at Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge University, examines the Antarctic’s response to climate changes over the last 100,000 years and investigates the deepest parts of the ice core, thought to be 400,000 years old. Read now in our Annual Review: https://lnkd.in/ePCx_E7D

In the nineteenth century, natural history reached its zenith in Britain as a mode of general study and popular pastime. Research Leadership Awardee, Francesca Mackenney at The Manchester Metropolitan University, will assemble a diverse team to trace this growth, with a view to bringing life back to a research field. Read now in our Annual Review: https://lnkd.in/eWgPEcmE

European moles are a common animal in the UK, but many people have never seen a living one. This is because the most frequent interaction between people and moles is ‘mole control’: the killing of moles as pests. Partnering with the National Trust, Sarah L Crowley and postdoctoral researcher Jules Dezeure at the University of Exeter aim to enable greater coexistence between moles and people by investigating social, practical and ecological aspects of mole management. Read now in our Annual Review: https://lnkd.in/eCuvW_bN

From Cambridge to Iceland: a long-awaited update! Almost one year ago I left UNEP-WCMC and soon after started my master's in Environmental Change at Higher Latitudes (EnCHiL) at Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands and University of Helsinki. I am incredibly grateful to the The Leverhulme Trust for funding me with a Study Abroad Studentship, without which I would not be able to undertake this experience. In my time at UNEP-WCMC, I contributed to over 15 projects ranging from reviewing the potential for Nature-based Solutions to contribute to environmental change, to analysing ecosystem service provision under climate change. I contributed to the development of multiple indicators and organised multiple expert workshops. I learnt a lot in this time, particularly from all the wonderful colleagues I worked with. Nevertheless, for many reasons, I decided it was time to move on. In August, I started my interdisciplinary master's in Iceland, living on a Ramsar wetland site in a small village. I've watched the seasons progress from 4-hr days and -8ºC to 19-hr days (soon to be 22-hr days). I've learnt about everything from governance to air-sea exchange of greenhouse gases. I've conducted fieldwork in wetlands and will soon be going to Greenland and Finland. I look forward to doing my thesis on environmental changes around the Hekla 4 and Hekla 3 eruptions, comparing impacts in the Icelandic and Scottish highlands and lowlands. You can read more about my motivations and goals for taking this master's in my piece for The Leverhulme Trust's 2025 annual review (p. 42), accompanied by one of the photos I took from my town: https://lnkd.in/d986u6Qn

The Leverhulme Trust's 2025 Annual Review is now out - check out our article to see more about what the Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War is all about! https://lnkd.in/eHbTH_kq #leverhulmetrust #crsw #kcl #rightslab

A biological and social capacity for musicianship resides in each of us, and this capacity helps define what it means to be human. In a complex and uncertain world, how we communicate together, with technology and with nature, is the biggest challenge we face; Professor Raymond MacDonald’s project at Edinburgh College of Art explores how creative improvisation sustains and enhances communities worldwide. Read now in our Annual Review: https://lnkd.in/em8NbGjT

From Cambridge to Iceland: a long-awaited update! Almost one year ago I left UNEP-WCMC and soon after started my master's in Environmental Change at Higher Latitudes (EnCHiL) at Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands and University of Helsinki. I am incredibly grateful to the The Leverhulme Trust for funding me with a Study Abroad Studentship, without which I would not be able to undertake this experience. In my time at UNEP-WCMC, I contributed to over 15 projects ranging from reviewing the potential for Nature-based Solutions to contribute to environmental change, to analysing ecosystem service provision under climate change. I contributed to the development of multiple indicators and organised multiple expert workshops. I learnt a lot in this time, particularly from all the wonderful colleagues I worked with. Nevertheless, for many reasons, I decided it was time to move on. In August, I started my interdisciplinary master's in Iceland, living on a Ramsar wetland site in a small village. I've watched the seasons progress from 4-hr days and -8ºC to 19-hr days (soon to be 22-hr days). I've learnt about everything from governance to air-sea exchange of greenhouse gases. I've conducted fieldwork in wetlands and will soon be going to Greenland and Finland. I look forward to doing my thesis on environmental changes around the Hekla 4 and Hekla 3 eruptions, comparing impacts in the Icelandic and Scottish highlands and lowlands. You can read more about my motivations and goals for taking this master's in my piece for The Leverhulme Trust's 2025 annual review (p. 42), accompanied by one of the photos I took from my town: https://lnkd.in/d986u6Qn