DPhil Student
rachel.martin@biology.ox.ac.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-martin-8410131b7/ https://x.com/rachel_martin17

Rachel Martin

Background

Growing up in the Appalachian region of the United States gave me the opportunity to develop a deep connection with the natural world and an understanding of the complexities behind its use and management. With a background in Environmental Studies, I take an interdisciplinary approach to addressing complex environmental challenges, seeking to understand the underlying issues and the trade-offs of proposed solutions. This perspective has shaped my research across diverse topics, including conservation technology and innovation, coastal climate adaptation, marine ecosystem indicators with NOAA, harbor seal cognition in Germany, endangered plant recovery in the US, and species distribution models for climate change impacts on lizards in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. By approaching problems from multiple angles, I strive to identify and address systemic drivers of environmental challenges, working toward innovative and meaningful solutions that support positive conservation outcomes.

Research Interests

My overall research interests lie in whether and how we can achieve nature positive outcomes alongside economic development activities, and the types of actions required to achieve net positive biodiversity outcomes at scale. I interested in the quantitative elements of this challenge – how to measure and model these changes, especially in relationship to pressures, drivers, state, and responses, as well as the overall trade-offs and synergies between different scenarios of action.

Current Research

I am currently pursuing a DPhil focused on assessing and validating nature-positive outcomes across economic sectors. I am particularly interested in exploring how predictive models can enhance our understanding of biodiversity change and guide actions and in achieving global goals for nature positive outcomes, while building on my past work evaluating drivers of extinction and solutions to biodiversity loss. I aim to quantitatively understand the biodiversity impacts across economic sectors, utilize multiple scales of metrics and methodologies for the detection of impacts and attribution of biodiversity change relevant for decision-making toward measurable outcomes, and understand the level of ambition required to achieve nature positive outcomes at scale.

Brief CV

2024 – Present: DPhil in Biology, University of Oxford

2024 – Present: Technical Manager, Nature Positive Initiative

2020 – 2024: Researcher, Conservation X Labs

2020 – 2021: Research Associate, City of Defiance, Ohio

2019 – 2020: Biological Science Research Apprentice, Ohio University

2019 – 2019: NOAA Hollings Scholar

2018 – 2020: Voinovich Research Scholar, Ohio University

2018 – 2018: DAAD RISE Scholar

Publications

Martin, R. N., Bunje, P. M. E., & Dehgan, A. O. (2024). The Extinction Solutions Index (ESI): A framework to measure solution efficiency to address biodiversity loss. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 5(3), e12358. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12358

Kauneckis, D., & Martin, R. (2020). Patterns of adaptation response by coastal communities to climate risks. Coastal Management, 48(4), 257-274. https://doi.org/10.1080/08920753.2020.1773209

Links

https://www.biology.ox.ac.uk/people/joseph-bull#tab-3825051

https://naturepositive.web.ox.ac.uk/