Quantifying lexical usage: vocabulary pertaining to ecosystems and the environment

A recent development in corpus linguistics has been the integration of critical discourse methodologies, which allow in-depth contextual and qualitative analyses, with corpus linguistic methodologies, which allow broader quantitative analyses. Our study is a contribution to this approach. We present the methods used in a study of vocabulary pertaining to the environment, undertaken as part of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment. A clear and replicable methodology was developed and applied to three custom-built specialised web corpora and a reference web corpus; automatic analysis of collocations found using the Sketch Engine was complemented by manual analysis; and a small-scale replicability check was carried out to ensure that investigator divergence was minimal. We outline the approach and some of the key findings, and we also suggest areas for further refinement/investigation.

The science–policy interface: the role of scientific assessments—UK National Ecosystem Assessment

This paper discusses the science–policy interface, emphasizing the role of evidence and scientific assessments. It then presents the key findings from the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), which provided much of the evidence for the Natural Environment White Paper for England as a case study. It also influenced the development of the biodiversity strategy for England. The NEA demonstrates the importance of a multi-disciplinary team of experts to prepare and peer review assessments and the importance of input from funding agencies and relevant stakeholder groups in co-designing and reviewing. Much of the text and all of the figures in the NEA section are taken from the Synthesis Report of the NEA, which I drafted as co-chair of the NEA. 1