Our Trustee Spotlight series highlights the people guiding the Landscape Research Group. Through these features, we share the diverse experiences, research interests, and motivations that shape the direction of our work.
Dr Merham Keleg is an interdisciplinary landscape researcher whose work explores the relationships between people, place and culture through collaborative and internationally connected research. Alongside serving as an LRG Trustee, she is the Group’s Research Lead, overseeing its annual research funding programme and helping to support researchers at every stage of their careers. Passionate about creating opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and continents, Merham has played a leading role in expanding LRG’s global community through events, publications and international partnerships.
From organising field studies and international events to editing one of LRG’s flagship publications, Merham shares what inspires her, what she’s proudest of achieving, and why she believes landscape research has never been more important.
1. What first inspired you to get involved with the Landscape Research Group and what does being a trustee mean to you?
I first came across the Landscape Research Group almost by chance when I attended one of its symposia in London in 2018 during the first year of my PhD. I was exploring different ideas, disciplines and academic communities, and looking back I feel incredibly lucky that LRG was one of the organisations I discovered.
I still remember that symposium vividly. It was one of the few conferences where I genuinely enjoyed every minute. I was inspired by the diversity of the speakers, the richness of the discussions and the passion everyone shared for landscape. Although people came from very different disciplines and perspectives, they found common ground through landscape, and that experience reshaped how I thought about the field.
I joined LRG soon afterwards and have never looked back. Becoming a trustee has been a real privilege. It has given me the opportunity to work alongside an incredible group of people who are generous with their time, open to new ideas and genuinely supportive of one another.
To me, being a trustee means helping to create the same welcoming and intellectually curious community that first inspired me to become part of LRG.
2. What are you most proud of contributing to LRG during your time as a trustee?
It’s difficult to choose just one contribution because I’ve been fortunate to be involved in so many different aspects of LRG. What gives me the greatest satisfaction is helping to create opportunities for people to connect through landscape research and ensuring that more voices are part of the conversation.
One highlight was co-leading the LRG Critical Field Study in Cairo. Watching months of planning come together, and seeing participants experience the city’s landscapes through new perspectives, made every long day behind the scenes worthwhile.
I’ve also had the opportunity to represent LRG internationally at conferences including IALE 2023 in Kenya and ILAS 2025 in Beijing, helping introduce researchers from around the world to the Group and encouraging new collaborations and memberships.
Another privilege has been serving as an editor for the third edition of the Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies. Having relied on the earlier editions throughout my own academic journey, contributing to the next edition has been especially meaningful.
Leading LRG’s annual December flagship event and serving as Research Lead over the past two years have also been immensely rewarding. Through our annual research funding programme I’ve had the opportunity to work with inspiring researchers from across the globe, supporting innovative projects and seeing first-hand the creativity and diversity within our community.
Looking back, connecting people, ideas, disciplines and places through landscape is what I am most proud to have contributed.
3. How do you see the role of LRG evolving in the coming years and what opportunities should landscape research focus on next?
LRG occupies a unique place within the international landscape research community. Few organisations are so committed to supporting landscape research across disciplines, countries and career stages while remaining such a welcoming and collaborative community.
I hope we continue strengthening our international reach. Over recent years we’ve made real progress by broadening the diversity of our trustee board and engaging with researchers from different parts of the world. I’d love to see us continue building those connections and creating more opportunities for researchers in underrepresented regions to help shape the future of landscape research.
As Research Lead, I’ve also seen how much our annual research funding means to researchers, particularly those at the beginning of their careers or working independently. One of the programme’s greatest strengths is its balance between academic rigour and the flexibility that allows projects to evolve as new ideas emerge.
I also believe landscape research should continue embracing more inclusive ways of producing knowledge. Our field is strongest when it values different perspectives, works alongside communities and creates space for voices that have too often been overlooked.
Finally, I’d like to see stronger links between research, policy and practice. Landscape research has enormous potential to inform decision-making, influence policy and support practitioners tackling today’s environmental and societal challenges.
4. What excites you most about the future of landscape research – both within LRG and in the wider field?
I believe landscape research is more important than ever. As we face increasingly complex environmental, social and climate challenges, understanding the relationships between people, nature and place has become essential. Landscape provides a way of bringing those relationships together that no single discipline can achieve alone.
What excites me most is the openness of the field. Landscape research brings together the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, design and the arts, while recognising that valuable knowledge also exists beyond academia. Communities, practitioners, artists and local knowledge all have an important role to play.
I’m equally excited by the growing shift towards more collaborative, inclusive and globally connected research. The more we embrace diverse perspectives and different ways of knowing, the richer our understanding of landscapes becomes.
For LRG, I hope we continue to be a place where those conversations flourish—a place that connects people, supports researchers at every career stage, encourages new ideas and helps research make a meaningful difference beyond academia.
Ultimately, what excites me most is the possibility that landscape research can help us build a more just, resilient and sustainable future while preserving the rich diversity of landscapes across our planet.
About Dr Merham Keleg
Dr Merham Keleg is an interdisciplinary landscape researcher whose work explores the relationships between people, place and culture. As an LRG Trustee and Research Lead, she oversees the Group’s annual research funding programme and plays a key role in supporting emerging researchers and strengthening LRG’s international research community.
She has represented LRG at international conferences, co-led the Critical Field Study in Cairo, contributed to the Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies and continues to champion collaborative, inclusive and globally connected approaches to landscape research.