In the Field – a wilder laboratory is a collaborative cross-disciplinary, impact-oriented research project led by University of Suffolk researchers Dr Susan Barnet and Dr Jane Watt (Senior Lecturers in Fine Art), Dr Mark Bowler and Dr Daniel Mills (Senior Lecturer and Visiting Researcher in Wildlife and Ecology) with Suffolk Wildlife Trust at Martlesham Wilds, Suffolk.

It is a longitudinal research project that evaluates ecological change through an art-science approach. The project examines specific locations within Martlesham Wilds, the east Suffolk coastal river site now owned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) as it transforms from an arable agriculture landscape through natural restoration process. This is one of the first examples of nature-led restoration that is being monitored through art-science knowledge exchange using established, new and novel approaches of collection, evaluation and dissemination. Initial base line data is in the early stages of being collected (2023-24) and measured from the site including: water, soil, flora and fauna surveys and sampling; acoustic recording; mammal camera traps; observational drawing; grid referenced still and moving image; 3D and colour spectrum scanning.