STARS
Soils Training and Research Studentships
Mitigating the impacts of intensive agriculture on lowland organic soils
Supervisor: Christopher Evans
Registered: Bangor University
Based: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
This studentship will address one of the most pressing global environmental challenges, namely how to maintain food supplies to a growing human population without triggering irreparable damage to the earth’s ecosystems and climate. It will focus on the most important terrestrial carbon store, peat soils, which support some of UK’s most productive agricultural land, but are being lost at an alarming rate (>1 cm/year) due to drainage-based agriculture. This has resulted in lowland peats being the largest single source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the UK land-use sector. Working within a major multi-million pound five-year project on sustainable agriculture, the student will utilise cutting-edge GHG measurement technology to quantify emissions under different forms of management, and will contribute to the development and testing of novel mitigation methods to reduce emissions. The work of the student has the potential to contribute to the development of UK sustainable land management policies.
Eligibility:
Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in subjects such as Environmental Science, Agriculture, Geography or Natural Sciences. The project is multidisciplinary, combining soil science, atmospheric emissions, agricultural management, and will operate at a number of scales, making a wide range of scientific training suitable. The student must have a good grasp of mathematics and be able to interact in a group containing a wide range of expertise.
Only open to UK/EU residents.
For further details
For further details or to discuss any aspects of the project, contact Professor Chris Evans at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor: cev@ceh.ac.uk
Can nitrogen saturation lead to lower soil N pools? Using paired chronosequences to study the mechanisms governing nitrogen accumulation
Supervisor: Laurence Jones
Registered: Bangor University
Based: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Nitrogen pollution can reduce plant diversity in dune ecosystems by 50%, but new research suggests that nitrogen saturation may actually limit the amount of nitrogen accumulating in dune soils. This innovative project will use high-resolution chronosequences (sites with soils of varying age, 0-160 years old) and computer modelling to unpick the key soil processes that control nitrogen availability, and ultimately plant diversity.
The project will work on two sites: in the UK (Newborough Warren) and the Netherlands (Luchterduinen). The student will measure soil processes in the field and the laboratory, using these to parameterise the CENTURY-SWAP model. The study will go on to predict how climate change will affect soil nitrogen stocks in the future, and the consequences for plant diversity.
You will be given full training in soil analysis techniques including use of stable isotopes, and in use of the CENTURY model, working closely with UK and Dutch experts.
Eligibility:
Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in subjects such as Environmental Science, Agriculture, Geography or Natural Sciences. The project is multidisciplinary, combining soil science, plant ecology and modelling, and will operate at a number of scales, making a wide range of scientific training suitable. The student must have a good grasp of mathematics and be able to interact in a group containing a wide range of expertise. Applicants must be willing and able to undertake fieldwork and should possess a full driver’s licence.
Only open to UK/EU residents.
For further details
For further details or to discuss any aspects of the project, please contact Dr Laurence Jones LJ@ceh.ac.uk
Predicting formation and stability of carbon-rich soil layers
Supervisor: Ed Rowe
Registered: Lancaster University
Based: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Carbon is stored in soils in vast amounts, and to avoid further pressure on the global climatic system it is essential that soil carbon stocks are stabilised or increased. Organomineral soils with large surface concentrations of carbon are widespread in cool oceanic climates, and their carbon is vulnerable since they are often drained for farming or forestry. The study aims to understand fundamental controls on the formation and stability of surface organic-matter layers, through complementary modelling approaches: process dynamics and spatial statistics. Training will be provided in these highly transferrable skills. A simple soil aeration model will be developed, supported by redox and rusting-rate measurements across different soil types, and combined with the N14CP dynamic model to predict organic layer development during the Holocene, based on maps of parent material and climate. Spatial predictions will be validated against existing maps of organomineral soil distributions in the UK and Europe.
Eligibility:
Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in subjects such as Environmental Science, Information Technology or Statistics
Only open to UK/EU residents.
For further details
For further details please contact Dr Ed Rowe: ecro@ceh.ac.uk
Modelling the response of soil and vegetation to agri-environment options
Supervisor: Simon Smart
Registered: Bangor University
Based: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Would you like to earn a PhD doing research at the cutting edge of soil and plant ecology, land-use change and agriculture? We are looking for an enthusiastic, numerate student with a passion for ecology. The project will use state-of-the-art niche modelling and existing very high quality field data to estimate the role of agri-environment schemes in halting the loss of biodiversity. You will investigate the timescales of plant community assembly in response to scheme options and explore soil conditions and dispersal limitation as constraints on response? At the end of the PhD you will have gained experience in ecological modelling. You will have contributed to the global evidence base regarding the role of land-use and climate change as drivers of soil and vegetation change and gained experience in writing up your findings in high impact journals. Your research may also support the novel challenge of developing new schemes post-Brexit.
Eligibility:
This project will suit a numerate student that has an interest in addressing ecological and conservation questions through the development and application of statistical models from soil and vegetation survey datasets. Training will be provided in modelling, statistics, field ecology and botany. Applicants should hold a minimum of an EU or UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in subjects such as Natural Sciences, Ecology or Environmental Sciences. Familiarity with GIS and R would be an advantage.
Only open to UK/EU residents.
For further details
For further details please contact Dr Simon Smart, ssma@ceh.ac.uk.
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