Professor Simon Mortimer

Responsibilities:

Areas of interest

My research and teaching focuses on the following areas:

Development of indicators for measuring the success of agri-environment schemes and evaluation of the environmental performance of farms
Evaluation of interaction between agricultural and environmental policies, agri-environment schemes, farmer attitudes and decision making concerning agri-environmental policies
Relationship between land management, biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services, farmers' understanding of sustainable agricultural practices
Plant community ecology, vegetation dynamics and succession, restoration ecology, habitat creation, colonisation of new sites by plants and their associated invertebrates
Ecology and management of agricultural systems for biodiversity conservation, especially species-rich lowland grasslands

Current and Recent PhD Students:

Sophie Cunnington - Impacts of Farming Practice on Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) Populations in Lowland England.
Cath Jackson (2023) Small farms, big landscapes: how can we deliver collaborative agri-environment effectively?
Odinkemneme Ukwoma-Eke (2022)Influence of soil properties on weed-rice (Oryza sativa L.) competition.
Marijke Stuijk(2020)How can we make better use of crop residues?
George Vittis(2019)Analysis of spatial patterns in agricultural sustainability.
Rachel MacDonald(2019)Enhancement of natural pest control in orchards.
Joseph Taylor(2019)The impact of extreme weather events on tropical island biodiversity.
Erika Degani (2019) Novel crop rotations to enhance multiple ecosystem services underpinning production of winter wheat and oilseed rape.
Sam Leigh (2018) Harnessing multiple benefits from novel crop rotations: increased yield, pest regulation, soil fertility and environmental quality.
Oliver Crowley (2017)Resilience of below-ground ecosystem services to environmental change.
Nasren Rekany (2016)Spatial distribution and function of soil fauna in organic agroforestry systems.

My teaching is primarily in support of the & Sustainability programme, and includes the following modules:

Current and Recent Research Projects:

(KIARA) (EU EIT Food, 2025-2026)
(UKRI, 2023-2024)
(ENVISION) (EU 2020-2023)
(RECAP) (European Commission, 2016-2018)
(Defra, 2014-2017)
(LIBERATION) (European Commission, 2014-2017)

Board member (Secretary of State appointment),

Chair, Local Assessment Panel, Chilterns National Landscape

Institutional representative,

Executive Board member,

Steering Group member,