A small school of green chromis fish, Chromis viridian, swimming above staghorn coral in Raja Ampat, Indonesia © Shutterstock/Ethan Daniels
We are experiencing a period of unprecedented global environmental change.
Our work and collections are more valuable than ever in helping scientists understand the response of natural and anthropogenic ecosystems to this change.
From the origins of the solar system to the evolution of new species, our collections are helping us understand key transitions in the evolution of life on Earth and predict the impact of environmental change in the future.
News and features
Catch up with the latest news about the Museum's environmental change research.
Size matters: responding to environmental change
Museum palaeontologists are predicting the impact of our rapidly changing climate on body size using well-preserved fossils.
The midge thermometer
Museum entomologist Steve Brooks is studying the heads of midge larvae to trace climate change through time and calibrate global climate models.
Big data on biodiversity
Museum researchers are tracing the impact of human activities like land-use change, pollution and infrastructure on local ecosystems.
Research projects
Browse the current environmental change research projects.
Bryozoans and environmental change
We are investigating the potential impacts of ocean acidification and eutrophication on marine bryozoans - zooids with calcium carbonate skeletons.
All environmental change projects