)
Soil Salvation: The Critical Decade for Soil Carbon
Supervisor: Brian Reid (ENV)
Jessica Chapman is a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholar at the University of East Anglia as part of the Critical Decade programme. Her research focuses on understanding soil recarbonisation efficacy using interdisciplinary methods to guide UK agricultural policy development.
Jessica holds a BA Honours Law degree from Carleton University in Canada (2018) and an MSc degree in Climate Change, Development and Policy from University of Sussex / Institute of Development Studies (2020). As part of her MSc dissertation, Jessica undertook a work placement at Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, a UK non-profit organisation. In post, she researched links between sustainable food production and sustainable land management and translated her findings into informing grant proposals and influencing policy decisions at the local scale.
Following her MSc, Jessica gained regenerative farming experience in the UK and Canada. On these organic farms, she delivered hands-on CO2 reduction projects through implementing organic soil management strategies, permaculture approaches and native tree and hedgerow planting. Jessica has also advocated against urban expansion into critically endangered soil in Ontario, Canada for local organic farming communities. She drafted legal deputations, which provided a re-assessment on land use planning proposals that better integrated provincial agricultural mapping systems and aligned with the region’s 2020 Climate Change Action Plan. This work led to successfully influencing planning decisions by challenging a panel of Regional Councillors.
Describe your research journey so far.
My research journey has evolved in interesting and multifaceted ways. In my first year, I embarked on a rigorous interdisciplinary literature review, the culmination of which resulted in a policy-focused manuscript addressing crucial institutional-legal issues surrounding UK tenant farmers’ status and soil carbon assets. This manuscript has been submitted for consideration to the Land Use Policy academic journal. I've also actively immersed myself in a series of enriching training offered by ARIES DTP, CDCC, SCI Training Matters, Tyndall, and UEA modules/courses. These experiences have broadened my horizons and equipped me with a versatile skill set to apply to my next phase of research.
What truly invigorates me is the forthcoming opportunity to immerse myself out in the field with farmers, listening deeply and learning from an array of Norfolk farmer cluster groups. As I look ahead, I look forward to unravelling and understanding farmers' on-the-ground realities. This phase of my research is aimed at capturing the intricate web of factors influencing UK farmers' soil stewardship decisions such as; historical, legal, economic and cultural. These are all implicated in trust-building, incentives for change, and spheres of influence. I am excited to uncover rich insights that not only illuminate obstacles but also reveal opportunities to transition to more regenerative farming practices.