Twenty-fourth RECLAIM webinar - UK local authorities and communities & how much air pollution does vegetation remove?

Dr Alessio Russo is a Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Dr Russo has over 15 years of international experience researching, lecturing, and consulting on urban green infrastructure, urban forestry, and ecosystem services. Before joining QUT, he served as a Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Academic Course Leader for the master’s in landscape architecture at the University of Gloucestershire.

Professor Laurence Jones’ research covers three main areas: Ecosystem services theory and spatial modelling, effects of air pollution (nitrogen and ozone) on semi-natural ecosystems, and coastal ecology (sand dune systems, shellfish hygiene). He is a group leader of 17 staff, and is the thematic lead for urban research in UKCEH, with an increasing focus on modelling the benefits that people receive from urban green and blue space. He works increasingly in inter-disciplinary settings and with partners all over the world. He has over 100 ISI papers, H index of 40.

Stefano Barchiesi is the Ecosystem Services Officer at BirdLife International where he coordinates the science work on this focal area, including further development of the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA) and support in its use to BirdLife's Partners. Stefano has a PhD from the University of Florida for which he studied the trade-offs in ecosystem services of a large wetland site in Costa Rica. Prior to that, he worked for 10 years with the IUCN Global Water Programme on several multi-regional projects demonstrating the value of nature-based solutions for sustainable water resources management.