A thorough understanding of extinction events has never been more important as we are entering a biodiversity crisis that is being heralded as the "Sixth Mass Extinction". But are we really heading for a mass extinction and how will this current event compare to the catastrophic biotic crises of the geological past? The geological record provides a wealth of information for studying ecosystem dynamics and collapse under rapid climate change and understanding these events may be key in helping to predict the consequences of anthropogenic warming for existing and future marine ecosystems. One great unanswered extinction question is why do rapid warming events of the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic consistently trigger mass extinction whereas similarly extreme climatic events of the Cenozoic do not? An argument put forward to explain this mismatch is that modern ecosystem structure was established in the early Cenozoic in the aftermath of the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction (66 Ma) and that the reason for the lack of Cenozoic mass extinctions lies in the increased robustness of modern marine ecosystems. However, palaeobiological studies of extinction currently lack critical sources of information about how organisms interact with one another within ecosystems. We know from contemporary ecological studies that interactions between organisms play a pivotal role in the structure, function and resilience of modern ecosystems. Therefore, it makes it very difficult to interpret the dynamics of extinctions and ecosystem collapse across mass extinction events without a good understanding of the biotic interactions within communities. CASCaDE will drive a fundamental change in extinction palaeobiology via a novel and cross-disciplinary approach combining recent advances in ecological modelling with palaeontology. Specifically, we will test the role of marine ecosystem robustness and stability (which is determined by predator/prey interactions in food webs) in determining vulnerability to climate-triggered extinction cascades. We will investigate various periods of rapid global warming in the geological record - some that triggered mass extinction and others that did not. We will use a computer modelling approach to simulate several hypothetical extinction scenarios on fossil ecosystems pre-dating the climatic change events. These scenarios will be developed to represent known environmental stresses associated with rapid greenhouse warming i.e. rise in ocean temperature, ocean anoxia, and ocean acidification. We will then test which hypothetical extinction scenario best predicts post-event ecosystem structure. Specifically, we will test the hypothesis that differences in Palaeozoic/Mesozoic and Cenozoic food web structure and ecosystem resilience interacted with extreme climatic conditions differently leading to wholesale ecosystem collapse in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic but not in the Cenozoic. We will also explore how uncertainty in the reconstruction of the food webs linked to varying fossil preservation potential might influence out predictions. CASCaDE aims to push quantitative palaeobiology and conservation biology into new territory via modelling biotic interactions within ancient ecosystems and enabling predictions of extinction risk to rapid warming in modern marine ecosystems based upon extreme climatic events and mass extinctions in the distant past. We will apply the most likely scenarios of past climate change extinction cascades to food webs from modern marine ecosystems in order to predict whether anthropogenic global warming is likely to trigger Palaeozoic/Mesozoic-level mass extinction cascades or whether increased Cenozoic ecosystem robustness will buffer the oceans from complete ecosystem collapse.

Climate change represents a challenge to conservation because the species, habitats and other benefits (e.g., soil retention, maintenance of water quality, landscape value) associated with particular nature reserves and other protected areas (e.g. SSSIs) will change. Furthermore, this may undermine the legislative basis of some protected areas that have been designated as important because they support particular species or contain large numbers of individuals of certain species. Government, conservation agencies and volunteers (often through conservation charities) - stakeholders - need to meet this challenge so as to ensure that the limited resources available for conservation are deployed most efficiently. This Knowledge Exchange programme will bring together researchers and stakeholders to identify the questions that stakeholders most require answering to develop conservation strategies that are relevant under climate change, and then to bring together appropriate scientific and other information to answer the key questions identified by the stakeholders. The focus will be on the role of protected areas within conservation strategies. The project will be achieved via networking, workshops and literature / evidence gathering work. The answers will then be disseminated widely through a jointly-produced report, journal article and accounts in stakeholder magazines and web sites; as well as by oral presentations at a launch event and at stakeholder meetings. We will also identify stakeholder requirements for further research and for further Knowledge Exchange activities. The network formed through this programme will be well-placed to drive further integration of science into policy development and conservation action. The network will include researchers at the University of York and NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Knowledge Exchange specialists, and a variety of stakeholders and policy makers from, e.g., The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Botanical Society of the British Isles, Butterfly Conservation, from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage, and also from Defra.

There is a compelling need for well-trained future UK leaders in, the rapidly growing, Offshore Wind (OSW) Energy sector, whose skills extend across boundaries of engineering and environmental sciences. The Aura CDT proposed here unites world-leading expertise and facilities in offshore wind (OSW) engineering and the environment via academic partnerships and links to industry knowledge of key real-world challenges. The CDT will build a unique PhD cohort programme that forges interdisciplinary collaboration between key UK academic institutions, and the major global industry players and will deliver an integrated research programme, tailored to the industry need, that maximises industrial and academic impact across the OSW sector. The most significant OSW industry cluster operates along the coast of north-east England, centred on the Humber Estuary, where Aura is based. The Humber 'Energy Estuary' is located at the centre of ~90% of all UK OSW projects currently in development. Recent estimates suggest that to meet national energy targets, developers need >4,000 offshore wind turbines, worth £120 billion, within 100 km of the Humber. Location, combined with existing infrastructure, has led the OSW industry to invest in the Humber at a transformative scale. This includes: (1) £315M investment by Siemens and ABP in an OSW turbine blade manufacturing plant, and logistics hub, at Greenport Hull, creating over 1,000 direct jobs; (2) £40M in infrastructure in Grimsby, part of a £6BN ongoing investment in the Humber, supporting Orsted, Eon, Centrica, Siemens-Gamesa and MHI Vestas; (3) The £450M Able Marine Energy Park, a bespoke port facility focused on the operations and maintenance of OSW; and (4) Significant growth in local and regional supply chain companies. The Aura cluster (www.aurawindenergy.com) has the critical mass needed to deliver a multidisciplinary CDT on OSW research and innovation, and train future OSW sector leaders effectively. It is led by the University of Hull, in collaboration with the Universities of Durham, Newcastle and Sheffield. Aura has already forged major collaborations between academia and industry (e.g. Siemens-Gamesa Renewable Energy and Orsted). Core members also include the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), who respectively are the UK government bodies that directly support innovation in the OSW sector and the development of novel marine environment technology and science. The Aura CDT will develop future leaders with urgently needed skills that span Engineering (EPSRC) and Environmental (NERC) Sciences, whose research plays a key role in solving major OSW challenges. Our vision is to ensure the UK capitalises on a world-leading position in offshore wind energy. The CDT will involve 5 annual cohorts of at least 14 students, supported by EPSRC/NERC and the Universities of Hull, Durham, Newcastle and Sheffield, and by industry. In Year 1, the CDT provides students, recruited from disparate backgrounds, with a consistent foundation of learning in OSW and the Environment, after which they will be awarded a University of Hull PG Diploma in Wind Energy. The Hull PG Diploma consists of 6 x 20 credit modules. In Year 1, Trimester 1, three core modules, adapted from current Hull MSc courses and supported by academics across the partner-institutes, will cover: i) an introduction to OSW, with industry guest lectures; ii) a core skills module, in data analysis and visualization; and iii) an industry-directed group research project that utilises resources and supervisors across the Aura partner institutes and industry partners. In Year 1, Trimester 2, Aura students will specialise further in OSW via 3 modules chosen from >24 relevant Hull MSc level courses. This first year at Hull will be followed in Years 2-4 by a PhD by research at one of the partner institutions, together with a range of continued cohort development and training.

Environmental research has the power to connect with people's everyday lives and spark their imaginations. In 2016: a NERC scientist's graphic illustrating global temperatures spiralling upwards went viral on social media and was then used during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics, being seen by more than 1 billion people; 12.3 million people watched episodes of BBC's Planet Earth II programme making it the most-watched nature show; over 500,000 volunteers contributed 8 million sightings to the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch; 12,000 people donated the idle time of their computers to ClimatePrediction.net to run climate models; and 500 people were involved in Biohacking and DIY Science experimentation. Our ambition is for large-scale public involvement in participatory research practices, such as citizen science, in order to benefit research, researchers and members of the public. We want to progress from 'engagement' being solely passive consumption of media-channelled facts, or ad hoc one-off contribution to a single initiative, to an ongoing active and routine engagement with environmental research, participating, questioning and debating. Our vision is to leverage the power of the people and their involvement in environmental science at all stages of the research - from research design to explaining the evidence and impact - to address major environmental challenges, co-produce novel research and engage on their own terms. We want to create a generation of researchers who know how to utilise these techniques of successful public engagement and citizen science, and pay attention to the ethical and social implications of participation and the environmental issues in question. We want to establish the research commitment and NGO link that will enable successful co-production of environmental knowledge. Recent research by ComRes (2017) suggests that people's interest in environmental research increases when they are able to make a connection to their own lives. Yet, only a minority understand what constitutes or regularly engage with environmental research, although many want to hear more. In order to create genuine and sustainable change in public engagement with environmental research, OPENER combines the shared enthusiasm for the environment and the public's curiosity for the natural world with the expanding public engagement capacity of multidisciplinary researchers, practitioners, public-facing organisations and community groups. OPENER will scope out and build commitment for a national community of practice (CoP) for public engagement with environmental research. We believe that active public engagement and debate must: 1. be a multidisciplinary and partnership-building endeavour; 2. actively build on existing expertise in citizen science and participatory engagement; 3. acknowledge people have a complex identities, often with contradictory opinions; 4. respect and value all knowledge as meaningful and promote pluralism in expertise; 5. develop increased capacity, interest and skills of researchers and audiences; 6. enable avenues of engagement that acknowledge different needs, interests and availability; 7. facilitate public involvement in all stages of the scientific process and make explicit links to everyday life. Our Team who co-created OPENER is made up of national- and world-leaders in: environmental science (climate, ecology, soil, marine); public engagement and citizen science; cross-disciplinary social science; and public- and membership-facing organisations. We share a commitment to collective learning and embrace the new ways of thinking and doing required to ensure the sustainability of a national CoP. We will engage with a wide range of stakeholders to deliver an intergrated vision, mission, core values and joint activities for public engagement with environmental research in the UK.

We are in a biodiversity crisis. A million species of plants and animals are threatened with global extinction, and wildlife populations across much of the planet have been dramatically reduced, perhaps by as much as a half in recent decades. This is of profound concern because biodiversity underpins human existence. Biodiversity provides the foundation of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life. Increasing numbers of people, organisations and governments recognise the need to reverse the perilous state of our ecological inheritance. However, while there is unprecedented willingness to act, what we do not know is what will work most effectively to renew biodiversity and ensure continued delivery of its benefits. The Renewing biodiversity through a people-in-nature approach (RENEW) programme will develop solutions to the renewal of biodiversity. We will work, with a sense of urgency, to reshape understanding and action on biodiversity renewal across scales, creating knowledge at the cutting edge of global debates and policy development, and influencing national institutions, communities and individuals. We know that understanding of, and action on, renewal must take a step change and we will focus on the agency of people in nature, both as part of the problem and as the solution. We focus on a set of challenges: how popular support for biodiversity renewal can be harnessed; how populations that are disengaged, disadvantaged, or disconnected from nature can benefit from inclusion in solutions development; how renewal activities can be designed and delivered by diverse sets of land-managers and interest groups; and how biodiversity renewal can most effectively be embedded in finance and business activities (as has occurred with carbon accounting and climate change). This sits alongside the scientific and technical development necessary to underpin solutions options. Biodiversity renewal is a complex and whole system problem. The solutions require the creation of a new kind of inclusive and diverse research community, one that transcends traditional boundaries between the disciplines needed to tackle the environmental crises of the Anthropocene. Solutions also need to address the inequalities and lack of diversity found in current renewal practices. RENEW has therefore prioritised partnership building, to allow us to combine research with experiment, learning, sharing, outreach and impact, across relevant organisations and wider communities. Our approach means that practical impact is guaranteed. With the National Trust as co-owners of RENEW, we will have significant reach through their membership, outreach programs and public voice. Alongside other key partners in RENEW, our links are responsible for or have influence over much of the UK landscape in which biodiversity renewal activities need to occur. We will use the many landscape-scale nature activities currently underway (or planned in the near future) to develop learning, as if they were 'real time' experiments. The UK is one of the most biodiversity depleted countries in the world. Our ways of working in RENEW, the knowledge we develop, and the solutions we propose, will be of international importance. The lessons we learn will enable future biodiversity researchers and practitioners around the world to do better science, and deliver fairer outcomes.