"I believe it is possible for environmental research to make a global impact and to make a difference to people's lives. When you live and work in a forest for two months you gain a deep understanding and relationship with the environment," says Dr Reed, senior lecturer at the Department of Geosciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Aberdeen. "Those have been some of the richest and most educational experiences - impinging on everything I do and how I relate to the world."
Mark Reed is one of this year's two Michael Young Prize winners. The prize is awarded by the ESRC and the Young Foundation to an early career social science researcher whose research has the potential to make a far-reaching impact in society.
Dr Reed's research looked into the impact of changing environments on the people who live and work in the UK uplands and the Kalahari drylands in Botswana. His work aims to help people monitor and adapt to future challenges in these different environments - not only protecting their livelihoods, but also the ecosystems that they often depend on.
Dr Reed's research on Kalahari drylands is feeding into the UN Convention to Combat Desrtification
When choosing his research area, Dr Reed was looking for environmental issues which could bring real change to people's lives. Local knowledge, he says, is a huge factor in the research: "We chose our focus by asking local communities what the most significant problems were and what we could most constructively work with them on."
Dr Reed's research on Kalahari drylands is feeding into the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. "They want guidance from the research community on how they can better combine local knowledge of environmental change with knowledge from the academic community to inform policy," he says.
The UK uplands project has also constructively influenced a number of UK government initiatives. The team's recent review of the future of the uplands is feeding into policy at the highest levels, and they have also been working closely with the Commission for Rural Communities, which reports directly to the Prime Minister.
Winning the Michael Young Prize of £3,000 has allowed Dr Reed and his team to translate their findings and recommendations to the benefit of farmers on the ground in Botswana. It will also allow them to widely communicate their findings to people in UK uplands by producing information leaflets and an online video podcast to tell people how they can prepare for the challenges of the future.
Dr Reed is passionate about making the research culture relevant to users. He is part of a new project on the 'rural digital economy'. His work will look at the role of the digital economy in supporting better decision-making and healthy economies in UK uplands.
"We are creating a web-based portal where it will be possible to look at how different benefits coming from a particular piece of land are changing over time" Mark says. Sensors embedded in the landscape will send real time data to update online maps and graphs on the portal. He plans to create a 'Hill View' application where users can click on maps to see 360 degree landscape views, rate views and add their own photos.