James Hitchmough B.Sc PhD

James

Professor of Horticultural Ecology
Telephone: 0114 222 0610
Floor 12, The Arts Tower

Personal website - Naturalistic Herbaceous Vegetation

Professional and Academic Background

1975-79
University of Bath (School of Biological Sciences). B.Sc Honours Degree in Horticulture (Specialising in Amenity Horticulture), Second Class, First Division

1979-82
University of Bath (School of Biological Sciences) Postgraduate Research (Ph.D.) into:
"Development of a Computerised Information System for Landscape Plant Selection". Awarded Ph.D in 1984.

1983-88
Lecturer in Amenity Horticulture at Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture, University of Melbourne, Australia

1989
Visiting Lecturer in Landscape Management, University of Manchester

1988-93
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Horticulture at Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture, Melbourne, Australia.

1993-95
Lecturer/Course Tutor in Environmental Horticulture at SAC Auchincruive, Ayr, Scotland

1995-2003
Reader in Landscape, Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield
2004-
Professor of Horticultural Ecology, Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield

Professional Affiliations

1995-
Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture

Research Interests

Since the mid 1980's my main research interests have centred around the ecology, design and management of herbaceous vegetation. In Australia this lead to the development of a still active research group in the restoration ecology of Australian native grasslands. Whilst I still have a strong interest in "native" semi-natural herbaceous vegetation, increasingly I have re-interpreted ecologically based herbaceous vegetation in the cultural context of the public greenspace of towns and cities. This has resulted in a large volume of research on the creation of various native and non-native meadow, steppe and prairie vegetation from sowing seed in situ. This vegetation is designed to be much more sustainable than the traditional herbaceous plantings, however the main goal of the work is to produce ecologically informed herbaceous plant communities that are highly attractive to the lay public. The research employs standard restoration ecology methodologies and involves rigorous collection and statistical analysis data. As my interest in these new vegetation types has developed so has my desire to find out more about the aesthetic values and preferences of the public as they relate to urban vegetation. This has resulted in the development of a complementary strand of research based on the application of Environmental Psychology methodologies to designed urban vegetation. An example of this work is a recent ESRC/NERC funded PhD studentship which addresses how the colour and density of meadow flowers affects the preferences of green space officers and the public for this type of vegetation in urban parks.
My research group currently consists of 8 PhD students plus 5 MA students. I collaborate with a number of individuals across the world, and in Britain with the RHS. I currently hold a Marie Curie Transfer of Knowledge Grant to explore the commercialization of my seed sowing technology in conjunction with Jelitto Seed, Germany.

Publications

Teaching responsibilities

I am Course Director for the MA in Landscape Management, and teach most of the planting design at both undergraduate and post graduate level in our Landscape Architecture courses. The full list of modules I teach is as follows:

Introduction to Planting Design, Advanced Planting Design, Urban Park Regeneration, Maintenance and Management Techniques, Management Plans.

Administrative responsibilities

Other than everyday administrative responsibilities associated with previously mentioned courses and modules I am Chair of Research within the Department. This involves having an overview of research activity via the Research Committee, and representing the research role of the Department in a variety of contexts, particularly with regard to the RAE. I am also a member of the Executive group which provides support for the Head of Department.

Extramural responsibilities

These fall into two major groups; speaking at conferences and seminars, and secondly consultancy work with the landscape industry. With regard to the former I am regularly invited to speak at various conferences and seminars around the world. In the past 10 years in addition to numerous conferences in the UK I have spoken in Chile (3 times), Australia (4 times), USA, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland (3 times), Italy, New Zealand, and China.

Consultancy work is largely associated with putting into practice the outcomes from my research on herbaceous vegetation. Projects have included the creation of herbaceous vegetation at the following places-institutions, Arup Integrated Campus, Solihull, Earth Centre, Doncaster, Eden Project St. Austell, Possil Park Glasgow, Welsh National Botanic Garden plus a number of other sites. More details of consultancy work can be found on my personal pages.

Another form of consultancy I am active in is contract research, with a current study into how horticultural can contribute to urban biodiversity and a past study for CABE Space into how maintenance contracts can be used to benefit biodiversity in urban parks