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Roland Ennos

Roland Ennos is a visiting professor of biological sciences at the University of Hull. With his broad scientific knowledge and ability to make connections across disciplines, he is devoted to explaining how the world works for a general audience.

Among other things, he is an expert on the mechanics of wood and the design of trees. He has investigated how our fingers are modified for gripping. He has looked at how apes move about and make their nests in the forest canopy. He has studied how early humans used spear-throwers to increase projectile range, and how they designed better axes to cut down trees. He has lectured on how humans have managed and altered forests, and has had a life-long fascination for architecture and engineering.

In addition to writing over 120 scientific publications, he is the author of successful textbooks on plants, biomechanics and statistics as well as the popular book Trees, originally published by the Natural History Museum in London. He has also written several popular articles on physics and biology for Physics World and a feature for the Conversation on keeping your house warm that has been read one-and-a-half million times. He has promoted his research through many appearances on national and international radio shows including BBC’s ‘Open Country’ and PBS’s ‘Science Friday’, made numerous appearances on local television and gives talks on trees to natural-history and gardening societies throughout the United Kingdom.