Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences

Professor Tadahiro Ikeda

Fossils of a wide variety of animals—including dinosaurs, frogs, and lizards—have been discovered from the Oyama Formation of the Sasayama Group (Early Cretaceous, approximately 110 million years ago), which is distributed across Tamba City and Tamba-Sasayama City in Hyogo Prefecture.
I am conducting research to identify what kinds of organisms these fossils represent.
Fossil records from this time period are extremely rare worldwide, and the findings from this study contribute to answering various questions related to the evolutionary history of these animal groups, past biodiversity, and paleobiogeography.

Graduate School of Landscape Design and Management

Professor Michiro Fujihara

We are organizing and promoting community-led conservation activities to protect the Kentish Plover, an endangered species and the bird of Awaji City and Sumoto City. To achieve this, we are conducting surveys on nesting conditions, beach usage, wintering population, and advanced case studies. We are also implementing conservation measures such as establishing protected nesting areas and installing nesting protection fences. Additionally, we are raising awareness through study sessions for government officials, environmental education, and lectures. These efforts aim to develop and implement the research and activities of graduates from the 2021 academic year.

Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences

Associate Professor Daisuke Fujiki

In recent years, severe declines in forest vegetation due to the overpopulation of sika deer have been reported across Japan. To protect forest ecosystems from deer, it is essential to first assess the damage, clarify the relationship between the damage and the deer population, and then set management goals for the deer. We have developed a damage indicator called the \"Understory Vegetation Decline Index\" and are conducting damage monitoring on a prefectural scale.

Graduate School of Landscape Design and Management

Associate Professor Takeyama Hiroshi

We are engaged in research on the overall developmental environment surrounding children. Specifically, we focus on the design of playgrounds that foster children\'s creativity, such as play parks, and the design of learning spaces like biotopes. We also work on developing educational materials that allow children to learn through play. Recently, we have been particularly involved in creating playgrounds for children with developmental conditions, such as autism.

School of Human Science and Environment

Professor Mizue Ohashi

In forests, various biological activities centered around trees create flows of materials. We aim to unravel what kinds of ecosystem services (various benefits derived from ecosystems) are generated by these material cycles. Our focus is primarily on phenomena occurring underground, which are challenging to study. We are conducting research not only in Japan’s temperate forests but also in tropical and boreal forests overseas. By analyzing these data sets, we seek to understand the invisible world.