Sustainable futures
The long view
Research by Dr Tengwen Long demonstrates the far-reaching impact of the long, complex interaction between humans and the environment.
By providing a long view of natural environmental variability and human adaptation to climate change, Dr Long provides important insights to help address the environmental challenges facing the world today.
Dr Long, an Associate Professor of Geographical Sciences at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, said: "My work looks at the human dimensions of environmental change over a wide range of timescales, but in particular in the Holocene epoch – going back 10,000 years or so. One notable focus of my research is agriculture since it is a prime example of human adaptation to and influence on the environment. By looking at seeds, pollen and traces of charcoal in sediments, as well as bones and other material remains from archaeological sites, we are able to track the earliest development of crops, and other patterns of human activity. This is all against a background of a changing environment.”
While researchers elsewhere are tracing the development of agriculture in ancient Mesopotamia and other early centres of civilisation, Dr Long focuses closer to home and the origins of Asian rice - archaeological sites near Ningbo are closely linked to the beginnings of rice-based agriculture. “It’s humbling to think that something so important in human history happened close by,” he says. “Asian rice remains the staple food for around half of the world’s population. We also focus on the development of millet: though it was later replaced by wheat, millet was a staple food throughout much of China’s early history.”
This is very much an interdisciplinary area of research. “I love having the opportunity to collaborate with social scientists, geoscientists, life scientists and archaeologists. Many of our projects are international by nature: we are looking at patterns of development across regions, and we collaborate closely with other researchers, in Ireland, Singapore, and Germany, for example.”
A particular research interest is charting early routes in the Eurasian continent for the spread of crops. “Collaboration is part of human nature. The formation of the exchange network in Eurasia was much earlier than the establishment of the historical Silk Road,” he said.
"My work looks at the human dimensions of environmental change over a wide range of timescales, but in particular in the Holocene epoch – going back 10,000 years or so."
Tengwen Long
Dr Tengwen Long is an Associate Professor in the school of Geographical Sciences and is a member of the Natural Resources and Environment Research Group . Tengwen was trained as a physical geographer (2002-2006; BSc Geography) and Quaternary scientist (2006-2009; MSc Geology). He has a broad interest in Earth and environmental sciences but his research focuses primarily on the intricate interplay between humans and the environment. In this field of human-environment interactions, he employs an interdisciplinary approach that closely integrates methods and approaches in traditional disciplines such as Earth science, bioscience, and historical social sciences. His technological expertise lies in paleoecology and geochronology.
Email: Tengwen.Long@nottingham.edu.cn