Dr Paula Novo

Selected research projects

On-going projects are

• Applying ecosystem services-based approaches to water resource decision-making studying the risk of nature commodification in Mexico’s last free-flowing river In collaboration with ECOSUR in Mexico and the University of Leeds – funded by the British Council Newton Fund Advanced Fellowship (2016-2018)
• Peatland ecosystem services and social values in soil management Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme (2016-21). Monetary and non-monetary valuation of ecosystem services from peatlands and social values in soil management.
• Biodiversity management and governance Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme (2016-21). Exploring existing governance experiences as well as perceptions regarding novel governance mechanisms. 

Other selected recent research projects are

• PROVIDE – Providing smart delivery of public goods by EU agriculture and forestry. 
  EU-H2020 programme (2015-2018)
• ALTER – Alternative Carbon Investments in Ecosystems for Poverty Alleviation: below-ground versus above-ground opportunities for the restoration of ecosystem services (Ethiopia & Uganda) 
  NERC-ESPA (2013-2017)
• BREAD – Building Resilience in Ethiopia’s Awassa region to Drought 
  NERC-DFID (2016-2017)

Teaching

Programmes Run
I am the Deputy Programme Director for the MSc in Ecological Economics (delivered collaboratively with the University of Edinburgh). The MSc in Ecological Economics seeks to understand the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability problems, and to understand the role that economic principles can play in moving towards a sustainable future.

Course Organised
Course organiser for Environmental Valuation
Contribute to lectures in ‘Foundations in Ecological Economics’ and ‘Field Methods’

Supervision
I regularly supervise MSc dissertations within the field of Ecological Economics and Environmental Sustainability.

PhD students

• Charlie Langan, 2013-expected 2017 (University of Aberdeen)
  Bogging down society- opportunities and risks for wetland investments for development and climate action.
• Murat Okhuma, 2017-2020 (University of Leeds)
  Murat’s dissertation will focus on the effect of awareness on farmers’ behaviours in relation to diffuse water pollution.

Selected publications

• Novo, P. (2017). Accounting for the assimilative capacity of water systems in Scotland. Water, 9(8): 559-571.
• Byg, A., Novo, P., Dinato, M., Moges, A. et al. (2017) Trees, soils, and warthogs - distribution of services and disservices from reforestation areas in -southern Ethiopia. Forest Policy & Economics. 
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2017.06.002
• Byg, A., Martin-Ortega, J., Glenk, K., Novo, P. (2017) Conservation in the face of ambivalent public perceptions – The case of peatlands as ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’. Biological Conservation, 206: 181-189
• Getnet, K., Mekuria, W., Langan, S., Rivington, M., Novo, P., Black, H. (2017) Ecosystem-based interventions and farm household welfare in degraded areas: Comparative evidence from Ethiopia. Agricultural Systems, 154:53–62
• Bosma, C., Glenk, K., Novo, P. (2017) How do individuals and groups perceive wetland functioning? Fuzzy cognitive mapping of wetland perceptions in Uganda. Land Use Policy, 60: 181-196.
• Novo, P., Dumont, A., Willaarts, B., and López-Gunn, E. (2015) The legal and illegal water footprint of the Western Mancha Aquifer (Spain): More cash per (il)legal drop?. Environmental Science & Policy, 51: 256-266.
  Link to SRUC repository