Useful, usable and used
research and learning
for a sustainable future
Marc and his students work with public, NGO and private sector stakeholders to understand interactions between the environment and society, anticipate future changes and support the development of appropriate strategies and policies to cope with these challenges.
Research
Environment and Society
I lead international and local research to understand how society influences the environment and how changes in the environment affect society.
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I'm especially interested in stakeholder and citizen engagement processes to understand visions of desired land use and to support land managers to make strategic choices for a sustainable future.
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I’ve published over 80 research papers with over 300 co-authors on a wide range of topics. These papers have been cited over 5000 times, and I have an h-index of 31 (in Scopus).
Teaching
Challenges and Solutions
My teaching explains the interconnected global challenges facing environment and society, and identifies potential solutions to prevent or cope with negative impacts.
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Where possible I use my own research to underpin my teaching, and where appropriate involve students in ongoing research, for example through their dissertation research.
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It is important to me that my students understand real-life challenges and develop transferable skills to contribute to their careers and to creating a sustainable future.
Engagement
Science, Policy and Practice
Solving real-life problems requires opportunities researchers, decision-makers and practitioners to come together to understand different perspectives, align motivations and build trust.
I initiated and chair the Ecosystem Services Community Scotland (ESCom), was a founding partner of the Scottish Forum on Natural Capital, and have extensive experience in co-designing research project and workshop organisation and facilitation.
Biosketch
Marc Metzger is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Edinburgh and collaborates with a diverse team of scholars, students, policy makers and practitioners to achieve a more sustainable world.
Over the last 15 years he has contributed to a wide range of interdisciplinary projects focusing on the potential impacts of global environmental change on ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Initial work focused on mapping the vulnerability ecosystem services to global change. This sparked an interest in scenario development and stakeholder engagement, and more recently understanding normative visions of sustainable land use. However, Marc’s research interests are broad, and he has published on wide variety of topics.
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Marc joined Edinburgh University in 2007 as a Senior Research Fellow in Environmental Change Modelling. Before he was a lecturer in Environmental Assessment at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He studied ecosystem biology between 1995 and 2000, and undertook his PhD in European vulnerability to global change impacts on ecosystem services from 2001-2005, also at Wageningen University.
Get in Touch
I work in the Institute of Geography on Drummond Street, Edinburgh. Located in the medieval Old Town, our historic building was built in the 1850s as a surgical hospital for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
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My office (2.16) is located on the ground floor. Cross the foyer into the corridor opposite the main entrance. My office is the 3rd door on the right.
The University of Edinburgh
School of GeoSciences
Drummond St
Edinburgh EH8, UK
+44 131 651 4446