Waste in the Environment

We are confronting an environmental crisis – arguably the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. Here, Dr Joanna Coleman explains how we got to this point and how it relates to our daily behaviours, including the consumption and disposal of plastics.

Dr Joanna Coleman

Department of Biological Sciences

Dr Coleman is on a mission to contribute meaningfully to conservation and sustainability. Her research mainly targets urbanisation, a key driver of the environmental crisis. She studies its impacts on wildlife and on human-nature relationships, and the potential for urban animals to render ecosystem services. Much of her research is interdisciplinary – a lot like her teaching, which aims to help students develop their environmental ethics, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and resilience – all of which are necessary for us to solve this crisis.