Dr Susan Eshelman, Biodiversity Research Fellow
I am a community and functional trait ecologist exploring how grassland ecosystems respond to local and global environmental change. I have over ten years of ecological experience in both tropical and temperate grassy ecosystems, with fieldwork in Malawi, Madagascar, South Africa, Hungary, Scotland, and Norway. In 2025, I completed my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. My PhD research explored the drivers of grass life history strategies across spatial scales and biomes.
More broadly, my research investigates how environmental drivers and disturbances such as fire and grazing shape ecological patterns and processes across tropical and temperate grasslands. I am particularly interested in factors that influence ecosystem resilience, the role of intraspecific trait variation in community persistence and ecosystem functioning, and approaches to restoration management that support biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use.
Currently, I am a Biodiversity Research Fellow at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, working on the Fitantanana maharitra ho lovainjafy (FMH) - Sustainable Management for Future Generations in Madagascar project. My work focuses on modelling and mapping biodiversity and carbon storage across Madagascar to understand ecosystem drivers, assess potential impacts under future climate scenarios, and provide evidence-based insights to guide protected area management and policy.
- Google Scholar
- Bluesky: @s-eshelman.bsky.social
- Email: seshelman@rbge.org.uk