Heather Rumble

Portsmouth

Heather is an urban ecologist who works as a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography at the University of Portsmouth. She started her academic career at Royal Holloway, University of London, studying the soil food webs of green roofs for her PhD. In this role, Heather became particularly interested in the roles that soil microarthropods (springtails, mites and other species) and symbiotic fungi play in soils. Heather has also worked as a researcher for Forest Research, investigating the role that urban trees play in providing benefits to cities and helping develop the UK version of i-Tree. She has also spent a short time working in Poland for the Mammal Research Institute, tracking wild boar in forest habitats. Heather’s interests are broad. Whilst Heather’s work still focusses very strongly on the soil ecology of urban habitats, she has also worked on the hydraulic properties of living walls and the ecology of invasive species. She is currently working on a project that explores the barriers and benefits of using hydroponic systems in community gardens.