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Dr Rebecca Wheeler

Senior Research Fellow

3170

01392 723170

Lazenby House 1.03

Rebecca Wheeler is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR). Her current research interests include:

- Farmer attitudes, behaviour and decision-making in relation to the environment, including agri-environment schemes, landscape-scale management and adaptation to climate change.

- Health and wellbeing in the agricultural community

- Public engagement with farming and nature; farmer-community relationships

- Social and cultural geographies of place and landscape, including heritage, temporality and the oral histories of everyday landscapes

 

Research group links

Research interests

My research covers a range of issues within the broad area of rural social science. My current interests include:

- Farmer attitudes, behaviour and decision-making in relation to the environment, including agri-environment schemes, landscape-scale management and adaptation to climate change.

- Health and wellbeing in the agricultural community

- Public engagement with farming and nature; farmer-community relationships

- Social and cultural geographies of place and landscape, including heritage, temporality and the oral histories of everyday landscapes

 

Since joining the CRPR, I have been involved in a number of large research projects, including: Defra's Sustainable Intensification Research Platform (SIP) (which investigated the potential for intensifying agricultural land management to produce more food whilst also improving environmental management); an evaluation of the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme for Natural England; and the Hampshire Avon Demonstration Test Catchment project (looking at farmer attitudes and practices around diffuse water pollution.

Research supervision

I am currently supervising the following PhD researchers:

Hannah Mortimer: Feeding beef cattle: Regenerative practices, perceptions and performances of the 'good farmer' in Devon, England.

Skylar Collins: Understanding risk, safety and mental health challenges in UK small-scale fisheries

 

 

Other information

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Member of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG)

Member of the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS)

Biography

I have a broad background in rural geography and environmental sustainability and completed my PhD, titled 'Experiences of Place and Change in Rural Landscapes: Three English case studies', in May 2015 (Plymouth University). This explored rural residents' experiences of, and attitudes towards, place-based changes - and the implications of these for processes of identity and place attachment - with a particular focus on existing wind farms.

Prior to my postgraduate studies, I worked as Climate SouthWest Project Officer for the Environment Agency, where I was involved in regional efforts to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change and encourage adaptation action. I also hold an MSc in Sustainable Environmental Management (Plymouth University) and a BSocSci in Social Anthropology (University of Manchester).

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