John Iwan Jones
Freshwater Ecologist at Queen Mary's University London
Iwan has been messing around in rivers since he was a little boy (much to his parents’ annoyance), but is now employed by QMUL as a freshwater ecologist studying both rivers and lakes.
A common theme in his research is a furthering of the understanding of how freshwater ecosystems function, and how best to manage human activities to ensure the protection of freshwaters and the continued provision of the multiple ecosystem services they provide. His research has included various freshwater biota (algae, plants, invertebrates, fish and bacteria) and covered a range of topics, including the development of bioassessment tools including molecular approaches, how best to manage agriculture to reduce its impact on freshwaters whilst maintaining an economically viable farm industry, how to assess and minimise the impact of metals from abandoned mines and plastics on freshwaters, the impact of climate change on freshwaters, food web structure, ecological stoichiometry and biogeochemical processes. Much of this work has taken an interdisciplinary approach to understand the interaction between human society and the natural world, and to identify opportunities for changes in the application of agricultural and environmental policy that benefit both.
Iwan is a former Council Member of the FBA. Based on his wide-ranging experience, particularly of the management of freshwaters, Iwan has provided advice on the assessment, management and conservation of freshwaters to the UK and devolved Governments and their various agencies, and to other authorities internationally.
