Nathalie Seddon

Senior associate, Natural Resources

Nathalie has more than 20 years of experience working in tropical environments as an evolutionary ecologist and conservation biologist. She now works at the science-policy interface in the areas of nature-based solutions to the causes and consequences of climate change, and in the role of biodiversity and natural capital in the sustainable development agenda.

Full biography

She has been a visiting fellow and then senior associate at IIED since September 2015, based in the biodiversity team working on the BMUB/IKI (International Climate Initiative)-funded project exploring the effectiveness of ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation (EbA). In particular, she has been evaluating approaches to defining and determining the ecological and social resilience of EbA projects.

She also quantified the provision for EbA in the INDCs submitted to UNFCCC and presented IIED's EbA work at the UN climate meeting in Bonn in May 2016. In tandem, Nathalie has been contributing to interdisciplinary proposals for further work in this and related areas.

Before IIED

Nathalie obtained her first degree in Natural Sciences and her PhD in evolutionary ecology and conservation at the University of Cambridge (Department of Zoology).

She then held a junior research fellowship at Cambridge before moving to Oxford as a Royal Society University Research Fellow in 2005 to study the diversification and conservation of Neotropical birds.

Four years later, she was appointed a university lecturer; became director of the Biodiversity Institute in November 2013, and was made Professor of Biodiversity in January 2015. She is also a research associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Current work

Nathalie is currently focusing on the biodiversity team's work in collaboration with IIED's Climate Change research group, which supports the DFID-funded IIED-International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Bangladesh, strategic partnership.

A major focus for Nathalie will be to draft proposals for interdisciplinary research and research capacity development in the area of climate change adaption, working with Saleemul Huq to strengthen links between IIED, ICCCAD and UK research organisations.

Nathalie Seddon

Current work

Latest publications

Investing in nature for development: do nature-based interventions deliver local development outcomes?

Global recognition of the importance of nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change

Harnessing employment-based social assistance programmes to scale up nature-based climate action

Is ecosystem-based adaptation effective? Perceptions and lessons learned from 13 project sites

L’adaptation basée sur les écosystèmes est-elle efficace ? Perceptions et leçons tirées de 13 sites de projets

¿Es eficaz la adaptación basada en ecosistemas? Percepciones y lecciones aprendidas en trece sitios de proyectos

50 years linking local to global

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Nathalie Seddon

Current work

Latest publications

Investing in nature for development: do nature-based interventions deliver local development outcomes?

Global recognition of the importance of nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change

Harnessing employment-based social assistance programmes to scale up nature-based climate action

Is ecosystem-based adaptation effective? Perceptions and lessons learned from 13 project sites

L’adaptation basée sur les écosystèmes est-elle efficace ? Perceptions et leçons tirées de 13 sites de projets

¿Es eficaz la adaptación basada en ecosistemas? Percepciones y lecciones aprendidas en trece sitios de proyectos

50 years linking local to global