Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
We live in a unique time in the history of the Earth, when human influence on the planet is so pervasive that it is argued that we have entered a new geological epoch; the Anthropocene. The consequences of this influence spills over into the many environmental challenges we face, from climate change to depletion of marine resources and the loss and degradation of natural ecosystems.
In this lecture Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford, examines the flow of energy through human societies in comparison with the biosphere as a whole, the metabolic profile of the UK, and explores possible pathways to navigating a sustainable future on our human-dominated planet.
Professor Malhi's work focuses on the interactions between the biosphere and global change, with a particular focus on tropical biomes. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in tropical countries, and is founder of the Global Ecosystems Monitoring network, which conducts detailed studies of ecosystem processes and climate change in field sites ranging across Amazonia, Africa and Asia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was awarded a CBE in the 2020 Queens' Birthday Honours for his work on ecosystem science. He is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of London and President-Elect of the British Ecological Society.
Visit our website: https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk
Your generous donations help to keep our public programmes running. Donate to the Museum: oxgive.info/3gObNNl
We live in a unique time in the history of the Earth, when human influence on the planet is so pervasive that it is argued that we have entered a new geological epoch; the Anthropocene. The consequences of this influence spills over into the many environmental challenges we face, from climate change to depletion of marine resources and the loss and degradation of natural ecosystems.
In this lecture Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford, examines the flow of energy through human societies in comparison with the biosphere as a whole, the metabolic profile of the UK, and explores possible pathways to navigating a sustainable future on our human-dominated planet.
Professor Malhi's work focuses on the interactions between the biosphere and global change, with a particular focus on tropical biomes. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in tropical countries, and is founder of the Global Ecosystems Monitoring network, which conducts detailed studies of ecosystem processes and climate change in field sites ranging across Amazonia, Africa and Asia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was awarded a CBE in the 2020 Queens' Birthday Honours for his work on ecosystem science. He is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of London and President-Elect of the British Ecological Society.
Visit our website: https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk
Your generous donations help to keep our public programmes running. Donate to the Museum: oxgive.info/3gObNNl
