We are in the midst of an environmental crisis, and the next ten years are crucial to avert climate change and to halt the irreversible loss of habitats and species. Restoration offers a path to recovery. Since 2019, the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme has supported projects that are restoring degraded landscapes and seascapes across Europe. These efforts are led by dedicated and inspirational teams, including young people working to rebuild nature for the future. This series, Meet Generation Restoration, spotlights some of the individuals driving that change.
This week, we’re speaking to Dr Isobel Ollard, Conservation Scientist at the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme. With a background in freshwater ecology and a passion for applied conservation, Isobel helps ensure that restoration projects are grounded in rigorous science and that their results are shared to support wider learning.
What does your role involve?
As a Conservation Scientist with the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, I work with the restoration projects we fund to support and advise on their science and monitoring. This includes helping them collect data on their interventions to test how effective they are, understand the complex patterns and dynamics in each landscape or seascape, and generate evidence that can be used by other practitioners.
Each project develops a monitoring plan, covering ecological, ecosystem service and socioeconomic indicators. I help ensure that these plans, and the work that follows, are scientifically robust and have solid experimental design. This matters because restoration is difficult to evaluate. Outcomes often take years or decades to emerge, and it can be hard to separate the effects of restoration from other changes happening at the same time. Well-designed monitoring helps us measure recovery more effectively and understand what’s working.
I also work on the Measuring Impact Hub, where we share the monitoring results and processes from across the Programme. It’s a growing resource that makes the data accessible and useful for others. I enjoy the challenge of analysing and summarising complex indicators, and it gives me the chance to learn more about each project and the science behind it.
How did you become interested in conservation and restoration?
I’ve always loved being in and around water, and I’m an avid whitewater kayaker. During my undergraduate degree in ecology and conservation, I specialised in freshwater ecology, which felt like a natural fit. My PhD focused on freshwater mussels. I looked at how they are coping with rapid environmental change and what effects they have on other aquatic species, which makes them such an important, but often overlooked, group.
After finishing my PhD, I wanted to stay in conservation but move towards more applied, action-oriented work. While collecting data on species decline is vitally important, I was keen to be part of efforts to halt and reverse those declines. At the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, I’m constantly learning about how restoration is being carried out in different ecosystems, and I’m inspired by the people leading this work.
What inspires you in your role, and how do you stay hopeful?
I’m incredibly lucky to work with amazing, dedicated individuals across the projects that we fund. Their energy and passion for restoring nature, even in the face of real challenges, is inspiring and motivating.
Working with the data that projects are collecting can also be hopeful. We are starting to see the first signs of nature recovery emerging in these datasets. This provides concrete evidence that there are ways to reverse environmental degradation and that recovery is already beginning in many places.
Do you think young people today feel connected to the natural world?
It’s hard to generalise. In some respects, younger generations may feel less connected. Many people grow up in areas where access to wild nature is limited, and there are often additional barriers for certain groups. At the same time, I think awareness of the biodiversity crisis is growing, and many young people feel a strong sense of responsibility and urgency.
There are also more ways for young people to connect with nature, even in cities. Urban greening projects and efforts to improve nature education in schools are helping to create new opportunities.
Why is it important for young people to be involved in restoration?
Ecosystem restoration is a long-term endeavour. The recovery of natural processes can take years or decades, so it’s important that young people are engaged and invested now to help support and sustain these projects into the future.
Younger generations will be the most affected by biodiversity and climate change, and also the ones who will experience the long-term outcomes of restoration. That makes it all the more important that they are equipped with the knowledge and tools to take action.
