The Professorial Inaugural Lecture Series: Professor Philip James March 22, 2011

The next Professorial Inaugural Lecture of this semester will be given by Professor Philip James, Professor of Ecology and is entitled Changing Attitudes to Nature: first love, separation and pre-nuptial agreements.

The lecture will be held on Tuesday 22 March 2011 in the Lady Hale Lecture Theatre commencing at 5:30pm. Please come along and join us.

About the Lecture

In his inaugural lecture Professor James will address questions such as why we keep pets, what happened in Salford on 29th October 1827 and how to improve your personal efficiency by ten to fifteen percent. The answers to these questions address different aspects of society's changing attitudes to nature.

Professor James will review the critical episodes that have shaped the way we interpret, and interact with, the natural world. He will discuss the early tentative steps of our love affair with nature and explore how the stresses and strains of everyday life led to individuals and society becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural world. Today there are signs that the relationship is back on, this time its foundations are based on valuing the services provided by ecosystems which, he argues, is the equivalent of preparing a pre-nuptial agreement.

During the lecture Professor James will report on his research findings and those of the Post Graduate Researchers at Salford with whom he has worked. He will demonstrate the contribution of these studies to the international debate re-framing our future relationship with the natural world, which, in turn, will shape the world in which we all live.

About Professor James

Philip James came to Salford in 1994 having previously worked in industry and Further Education. It was whilst employed as an agronomist by United Biscuits Agriculture that he read for his PhD. His studies shed new light on the physiology of plant senescence but also, along with other experiences, led him to challenge the form of people's relationship with the natural world. Since entering academia in 1994 Philip has adopted an interdisciplinary approach, combining elements of biology and social sciences, to explore complex socio-ecological systems. He has contributed to establishing the first ecological network in the UK, to developing new concepts for integrating private and public land in to nature conservation strategies, and to developing a new 1,700 ha nature conservation area along the banks of the River Mersey. Currently he leads research exploring how the concept of ecosystem services can be applied in urban environments. In his work he investigates issues such as the links between the natural world and health and well being, the values placed on nature by individuals and communities, and how the natural world is interpreted and understood.

Professor James was appointed to a Senior Lectureship in 2000, a Readership in 2007 and to a Professorship in 2009. He is a Fellow of the Society of Biology and a Chartered Biologist, a Fellow of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Official Website: http://www.salford.ac.uk/events/details/1404