Lead ammunition is still widely used in the UK, despite growing international concern about its environmental and health impacts. However, after centuries of use, things are on the cusp of change, with the ‘lead debate’ at a crossroads (Cromie et al., 2019). Recent research by this team (Newth et al., 2019) has identified diversity in the perspectives and practices of ammunition users and, at this pivotal moment, there is an urgent need to better understand how topographical, ecological and social factors interact to produce, reduce, and remediate environmental contamination.

Image Credit: Fieldsports Channel.

This interdisciplinary project will investigate spatial and behavioural variation and change in the use, distribution, and impacts of both lead and non-toxic ammunition. Combining innovative approaches from geography and environmental sciences, the student will develop skills in ecotoxicology, ecosystem health assessment and contemporary social research methods, as well as experience working at the science/policy interface. The collaborative CASE partnership will involve working with specialists at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and engaging constructively with ammunition users and shooting organisations in a range of contexts. It also offers opportunities to examine the impacts of both lead and non-toxic shot on different species and habitats (e.g. gamebird and wildlife exposure, wounding rates, and plastic pollution), and investigate the environmental effects and social processes of transitioning from lead to non-toxic ammunition.

For more details about the project and application process please see our ‘Join Us‘ page or click here.

Featured Image: Bert de Tilley