FoNS students present at Linnean Society Meeting

Undergraduate students from both the Department of Life Sciences and the Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP) collaborated in order to present their work at the Linnean Society Meeting last November.

The group of undergraduate students, based at Silwood Park, working with Professor Guy Woodward, Professor of Ecology in the Department of Life Sciences, presented their poster at both the Linnean Society Meeting on the 20 November 2025 and the British Ecologocal Society Aquatic Group Conference on the 15 September 2025. 

All of the students studied the Global Change Biology module taught by Professor Woodward, and most were also part of the Final Year Project which collected all the data used to generate the posters. 

Professor Guy Woodward said: “I was ugely impressed with what this group of students have accomplished - it is an amazing achievement and to go from the raw data generation through to presenting at a prestigious international conference like this in a matter of weeks is nothing short of astounding!! They are a huge credit to Imperial, and it’s fantastic to see so many of them returning to us as postgraduates, both within and outwith FoNS.”  

Tilly Collins, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the CEP, said: “Attending this conference and having the opportunity to present such collaborative work was an exceptional opportunity for these students. It has inspired them and their future scientific contributions.” 

Watch their video below to hear more about their work and their experiences presenting at the conferences.

The group have been invited by the Linnean Society to submit a paper, following their presentation.  

Andra Vladu, Biological Sciences Graduate and UROP Student with Prof Woodward, Imperial College, said: “Presenting our poster at the British Ecological Society Aquatic Group Conference and the Linnean Society was a highly rewarding experience and gave me a real insight into the life of an academic. I’m very grateful to Prof Woodward for his guidance and advice and to the Department of Life Sciences for their support. As someone at the beginning of their career the experience boosted my confidence and helped deepen my understanding of current research in the ecology world.” 

Rebecca Chen, MSc student in CEP, said: “Our team-based project, which explored interactions across ecological organisational levels, not only gave me more to discuss in my thesis but also strengthened my systems thinking skills. This experience has strongly influenced how I now approach my MSc in Environmental Technology, where applying a systems-based approach is essential for addressing real-world sustainability challenges. Moving from the Department of Life Sciences to the Centre for Environmental Policy showed how transferable these soft skills are across science and policy.”   

Saanvi Singh, MSc student in CEP, said: “The FYP was a very enriching experience, I got to learn so much and gained many new field skills. I did my project on zooplankton and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially linking my research to relevant stressors in the natural world. The UROP over the summer was another fantastic experience, where I got to further sharpen my skills and learn more from Professor Guy Woodward. It was an amazing experience working with him and having his guidance and support throughout.”

Yoli, Imperial Graduate and UROP Student, said: “Being part of the TBP was one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience. Living and working together at Silwood Park made the research highly collaborative, and everyone became super close, from lab experiments and fieldwork to shaping ideas as a group. It was incredibly rewarding to see how our individual data came together into one integrated project, showing how warming impacts freshwater ecosystems across multiple levels, with each level influencing the next. Having undergraduate research presented at conferences such as BESAG and the Linnean Society meant a great deal to us, and I am very grateful to the department for supporting and funding this experience.”