Dr Heidi Burdett

Associate Professor at the Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University

Heidi Burdett is an Associate Professor at the Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. Heidi’s research specialises in understanding the fundamental processes underlying photosynthesis in the coastal marine environment to improve coastal sustainability. Working across different habitats including coralline algal beds, mangrove forests and coral reefs, she is particularly interested in how photosynthesis continues to function under extreme light environments, utilising photonic, genetic and ecophysiological approaches. Heidi then applies this fundamental knowledge to coastal ecosystem conservation and sustainability grand challenges of food security, climate change resilience and technological innovation.

She works extensively with rural and indigenous communities to engage minority and under-represented groups to co-develop sustainable management plans that are informed by state-of-the-art coastal science in parallel to community sensitivities. Her research is thus inherently inter, cross and multidisciplinary, and she has active collaborations with researchers across multiple disciplines including data science, photonics, theoretical mathematics, social science and public engagement.

She is excited about the prospect of further developing interdisciplinary links at an international scale during European Crucible, and looks forward to pushing the boundaries of her current research profile.