Dr Susan Eshelman, Open Ecosystems Ecology Research Fellow
I am a community and functional trait ecologist whose research focuses primarily on grassland ecosystems, while addressing broader questions about how ecological communities respond to local and global environmental change. I have over ten years of ecological experience in both tropical and temperate 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 open ecosystems. 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 an Open Ecosystems Ecology Research Fellow leading the collaborative project Ecological Impact of Afforestation in Scottish Open Ecosystems between the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the National Trust for Scotland. This research assesses how afforestation influences species distributions, habitat quality, and ecosystem functioning across Scotland’s open ecosystems.
Previously I was a Biodiversity Research Fellow at RBGE, working on the Fitantanana maharitra ho lovainjafy (FMH) - Sustainable Management for Future Generations in Madagascar project.
- Google Scholar
- Bluesky: @s-eshelman.bsky.social
- Email: seshelman@rbge.org.uk