Accelerated Adaptation
Backed by £54m, this programme sits within the Resilient Climate and Ecosystems opportunity space and seeks to explore pathways to accelerate the adaptation of wild species in order to prevent biodiversity loss and secure the natural infrastructure that underpins our global economy and well-being.
Meet the R&D Creators
We’re funding a cohort of interdisciplinary teams who are exploring approaches to accelerating adaptation in wild species in a variety of systems - from bog moss to amphibians - as well as teams who will ensure that this work remains responsible and rigorous through data validation, modelling, and ethics and governance research.
If successful, capabilities derived from this programme could add a genuine new option to the conservation toolkit, complementing established stewardship and the essential work of reducing the pressures driving nature's decline.
Select to explore more:
TA1 | Systems
These teams are tasked with demonstrating accelerated adaptation in specific systems (species, ecosystems, ecological functions), from bog moss to pollinators to trees and forests.
Trees + forests
Vaccinating trees: engineering RNAi-based protection against emerging fungal diseases
Sarah Christofides, University of Cardiff
IMPULSA: Tree immunisation platform for urgent landscape-scale adaptation
Estrella Luna-Diez, University of Birmingham
Can fully grown wild trees be made pathogen-resistant?
Karen Sarkisyan, Syntato
Accelerated adaptation via reversible modification of flowering time in trees
Steven Hanley, Rothamsted Research
SPEED: Seed priming to engineer early drought-tolerance in trees
Charlotte Seal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Amphibians
SHIELD: Skin holobiont immunity via engineered lineages and design for amphibian chytrid resistance
Henry Lee, Cultivarium
Pollinating insects
Protecting beneficial pollinators: HIVE, LEAP, AGR (HLA) consortium
Mark Hanson, University of Exeter
Engineering viral resilience in wild pollinators
Marco Archetti, Pennsylvania State University
Foundational plants for critical habitats
FutureMoss: Future-proofing peat moss for a changing climate
Thomas Parker, the James Hutton Institute
Accelerating marram grass adaptation for climate-resilient dunes
Luke Dunning, University of Sheffield