Summary
A senior academic with roles as an Advanced Research Fellow, a Senior Teaching Fellow as well as being Deputy Director of Imperial College’s Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP). My work is interdisciplinary and has a theme of enhancing opportunity for increased ecological, social and economic sustainability in land-use transitions. This work currently across three domains, expansion of viticulture and other tree crops, of palm-crop in West Africa and of greenspace in cities. With broad research interests (including in insects as food and feed), I publish regularly on aspects of Urban Ecology, Entomology and Sustainability.
I also contribute regularly to the wider media on sustainability, ecology and entomology topics and have appeared on (amongst others) Radio 4's TODAY and Loose Ends shows, Blue Peter, First News, several 'Insect Eating' documentaries and on the pages of many popular and specialist magazines. An enthusiasm for scientific outreach leads me give talks in a wide variety of venues and circumstances.
After studying trees at Merrist Wood Agricultural College and a BSc in Ecology at the University of Sussex, my PhD (2001) was in the ecology of the aphid fauna of willow trees and gives me roots in applied entomology and crop pest biology. After post doctoral appointments in the Department of Environmental Science & Technology (DEST) of Imperial College and in the School of Biology at Leeds University, I returned to Imperial College's Life Sciences where I remained based until 2012. Whilst there I was the Senior Womens' Tutor, convened the second undergraduate year for Biology Degrees, several undergraduate modules and the created the popular MSc in Ecological Applications.
My current teaching portfolio covers MSc Quantitative Skills and Ecology. I oversee the CEP's inter-departmental contribution to the teaching of Natural Resource Management. I am also the Senior Women's Tutor and have received Rector's Awards for Excellence in Teaching and for Excellence in Pastoral Care.
In addition to my work at Imperial College, I was a Senior Lecturer in Entomology at Harper Adams University College, consult on sustainability challenges and am an Associate with the Environmental Consultancy, Collingwood Environmental Planning.
Publications
Journals
Collins CM, Audusseau H, Hassall C, et al., 2024, Insect ecology and conservation in urban areas: An overview of knowledge and needs, Insect Conservation and Diversity, Vol:17, ISSN:1752-458X, Pages:169-181
Nguyen NT, Collins A, Collins CM, 2024, Trends and patterns in the application of co-production, co-creation, and co-design methods in studies of green spaces: a systematic review, Environmental Science and Policy, Vol:152, ISSN:1462-9011
Raum S, Collins CM, Urquhart J, et al., 2023, Tree insect pests and pathogens: a global systematic review of their impacts in urban areas, Urban Ecosystems, Vol:26, ISSN:1083-8155, Pages:587-604
Hargreaves CJJ, Gaultois MWW, Daniels LMM, et al., 2023, A database of experimentally measured lithium solid electrolyte conductivities evaluated with machine learning, Npj Computational Materials, Vol:9