This unique edition of environmental SCIENTIST explores an approach that the IES has long championed in the sector: interdisciplinarity. Defined here as a way of working across and beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, interdisciplinarity is fundamental to environmental science: a field that is home to a broad range of topics, concepts, and approaches to research and practice.

It could therefore be argued that environmental science is the natural habitat of interdisciplinary working. A less siloed approach to environmental work has gained traction over the last decade, and interdisciplinarity is now often held up as the gold standard of new research and working practices in environmental science. Professionals are encouraged to think and work with interdisciplinarity in mind: but how does this take shape when creating new research projects, new interdisciplinary teams, or engaging new audiences? Does the buzzword of interdisciplinarity bring with it adequate...

This issue explores how, and why, specific environmental indicators are chosen to communicate environmental tipping points, baselines and benchmarks – alongside examining the politics, philosophies, and science that underpin them.

Articles in ‘Are we measuring what matters?’ examine a wide range of contemporary indicators from different perspectives across the environmental sector. Case studies demonstrate how indicators can help bridge difficult communication challenges – such as engaging both policymakers and the public with environmental problems – and other articles consider the complexities inherent in attempting to quantify or measure more abstract concepts, such as the wellbeing and value derived from experiencing beauty in our environment.

This issue of environmental SCIENTIST takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together scientists, policymakers, and public servants to ask how we measure both environmental degradation and improvement, and whether...

This issue of environmental SCIENTIST turns to one of the most contentious and complex topics within the environmental sector: finance. The edition considers how we can harness finance to advance environmental improvement, support the transition to net zero, and ensure that our economy is resilient in the face of environmental problems. Crucially, this issue asks who pays for this transition, and how.

There has been widespread global implementation of new financial measures, initiatives and policies (e.g., carbon taxes, Environment and Social Governance (ESG), and green finance to name a few), but the complexities and pitfalls of our current global economic system present challenges for policymakers, researchers, and environmental professionals alike. Financial support for environmental programmes, research and innovation must also remain accessible, democratic, and innovative. This issue of environmental SCIENTIST therefore asks how we can best work towards a truly...

This issue of environmental SCIENTIST sheds light on the ways in which human health and the environment are inextricably linked. Articles explore the complexities of well-known issues such as PFAS contamination and air pollution, alongside topics including inequitable access to healthcare and the green spaces necessary for wellbeing, the impacts of heat stress on maternal health, and the health effects of increasing mould and fungus in UK housing due to climate change. This edition will ultimately raise important questions about the unevenly distributed effects of environmental damage on human health, and propose ways to address these imbalances head-on.

Contributors in this issue respond to the health impacts of both systemic and specific environmental crises, driving forward thinking around how we respond holistically to the countless health challenges global society is facing, particularly those that are intensified by climate change and its multifaceted effects...

This issue of the journal examines an idea that is gaining traction in environmental thinking in recent years: net gain.

Approaching this topic from a range of different disciplines and perspectives, articles in this issue of environmental SCIENTIST consider the opportunities and limitations of net gain, as a global policy and regulatory framework, and as a way of thinking that can shape our understanding of progress and development.

Contributors in this issue will examine specific policies, such as the now-mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain, which came into effect in England in February 2024, as well as broader conceptualisations of the term that incorporate marine life, the wider environment, and our society.

Situating net gain in a global context, articles will respond to important questions about its usage and implementation: including what challenges do policymakers face when addressing such complex and far-reaching goals? How can landowners and other...