Ennia Bosshard

Ennia Bosshard is a conservation scientist working on forest landscape restoration. Her doctoral research explores socio-ecological dimensions of forest landscape restoration in tropical smallholder farming systems, with a particular focus on Kenya.

To address the intertwined challenges of biodiversity conservation, climate change, and food production, Ennia's PhD combines meta-analytical approaches, ecological field studies and social science methods. Using plant-pollinator interactions as a case study, she investigates how proximity to natural habitats and on-farm tree diversity affect pollinator communities, food production, livelihoods, and carbon storage in a smallholder farming landscape in Western Kenya. Her research also aims to better understand the decision-making processes of smallholders in diversifying trees and shrubs on their farms. Through her work, Ennia is keen to explore how nature-based solutions can support both nature and people.

Alongside her PhD, Ennia has been coordinating monthly ConScience gatherings at the uni since July 2022. Conscience is a collective of inter-disciplinary researchers based at or working with the University of Exeter to reduce biodiversity loss through socially just and evidence-based conservation. The monthly gatherings are aimed to bring together our conservation community on the Penryn campus, and offer a platform for engaging discussions, knowledge sharing, and networking among conservation researchers.