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Centre for Hydrology & Ecology

Helaina Black (BSc, PhD) joined CEH Merlewood in 1995 from the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) as a soil ecologist with a specialism in soil invertebrate ecology. Helaina has extensive experience in both temperate and tropical ecosystems, having worked on CEC, DFID and Rockefeller funded projects in Africa and India (principally on the impacts of agriculture/land use on soil fauna and their role in soil fertility and pest management) and, more recently, on DETR, NERC, MAFF and EA funded projects in the UK and other European countries. The main focus of her research is the role of soil fauna in maintaining soil function under change (e.g. agricultural practices, land use, pollution and climate change) and evaluating the potential of soil biota for environmental monitoring and assessment, in particular soil quality and the maintenance of soil health. Helaina has specialist taxonomic skills in the identification of soil invertebrates, including termites, important tropical soil pests and ecosystem engineers.

Melvin Cannell holds a BSc, PhD and DSc in Agricultural Botany from the University of Reading, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. He moved to Kenya in 1966 to do research on coffee, and from there to CEH Edinburgh. His research interests are in the physiology and genetics of trees of all kinds - temperate conifers, energy crops, agroforests, plantation crops and tropical rainforests. He has undertaken numerous consultancies since 1974 including: tea research in Kenya and Malawi; forestry research in the USA; biophysical research at ICRAF, Kenya; and future research strategies on short-rotation biomass plantations for the EC and agroforestry modelling for DFID. In addition to having managed the CEH station at Edinburgh, he steered the NERC Research Programme on the Global Change Carbon Cycle and is a founder board member of the European Forest Institute (EFI).

Stephen Cavers holds a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry (1994) from The University of Edinburgh, an MSc in Ecology (1998) from The University of Wales, and a Ph.D. (2002) from the University of Edinburgh. He joined CEH in 1998 to work on a number of projects examining genetic diversity and population structure in Latin American tropical tree species. Previous work experience includes:  1994-1995 Vietnam, forest inventory; 1996-1997 East Africa, initially setting up a marine research project in Mozambique, subsequently management of marine research site in Tanzania. Stephen is currently running the Molecular Ecology group within the Biosystem Management section at CEH Edinburgh, where his work includes examining patterns of genetic diversity, gene flow and population structure in tree species and their symbionts using molecular markers. Output is targeted at conservation of genetic resources, developing methods of sustainable forestry and promoting diversity in agricultural systems. To date, he has spent 10 years living and working in the tropics, with involvement in projects using genetic techniques during the past 7 years.

Alan Crossley holds a BSc ( Hons) in Botany and a PhD in Timber Technology from Imperial College, London. He moved to the CEH Edinburgh in 1980 as a Higher Scientific Officer specialising in Scanning Electron Microscopy. His research interests include the structure and biodegradation of wood, pollution effects on conifer needle surfaces, monitoring pollutant deposition in the Scottish Uplands and studying the effect of Acid Mist in the Growth of Sitka spruce. More recently he has been part of a large EU contract to identify and characterise Compression Wood in Sitka spruce and other European commercial species in collaboration with scientists from the UK, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. He is currently a Senior Scientific Officer and has become more involved in the technical elements of experimental design and operation.

Douglas Deans holds a HNC in Biology and Membership of the Institute of Biology Part 1 (L.I.Biol.) and Part 2 (M.I.Biol.), by examination. From 1962 to 1970 he was Chief Technician/Demonstrator in the Botany Department at the East of Scotland College of Agriculture and from 1970 to 1971 he was Cereal Taxonomist at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. He joined CEH in 1971. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Forest Ecology and Management. His work in the tropical zone has included: distribution of roots of Acacia species in the dry plains of east Sudan; testing of Sudanese soils for the presence of nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium species; the influence of differing growing media on production of root nodules on Acacia seedlings in a Sudanese nursery; and growth and development of Acacia senegal in an age chronosequence in northern Senegal, including distributions of aerial and subterranean biomass, tissue nutrient contents and estimation of the site (plant and soil) nutritional budget at each age.

Jan Dick holds a BA in Biology/Ecology from the Open University and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She joined CEH in 1977 and since 1988 has been a member of the Tropical Forestry Group. Her work spans a wide range of disciplinary expertise in tree physiology, functional ecology and land management. Since 1989 the largest aspect of the work has concerned the vegetative propagation of leafy stem cuttings of a wide range of tropical tree species. Associated work includes developing tree improvement programmes, genetic characterisation and selection, stock plant management, optimum nursery practises, and silvicultural systems. Jan has also engaged in technology transfer and capacity building in developing countries teaching scientists, graduates and indigenous people the results of her studies in an easily assessable and practical format (Kenya, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia and Brazil). More recently, Jan has been working on determining functional tree groups within tropical forests as a means of simplifying the large species diversity present. She has also investigated the contribution of tropical agroforestry systems to global climate change by measuring the NO and N2O emissions from soils, using chemiluminescence and electron capture chromatography.

Robin Fuller is a biogeographer who specialises in ecological mapping and spatial measurement from ground, air and space. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences (1969) from the University of East Anglia and then joined CEH, initially working for 8 years as a member of the Coastal Ecology Research Station. Following this, he undertook a variety of studies, leading projects on the use of remote sensing in plant community ecology; mapping Broadland land use and vegetation using air photo interpretation and digital cartography. In 1984, he started to test the use of Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data in a study of land use. This led a project to produce the Land Cover Map of Great Britain (LCMGB) from Landsat images. Other work has seen active involvement in onward applications of the LCMGB data. In 1989, Robin Fuller became Head of Remote Sensing Unit of the CEH Environmental Information Centre where he continued to diversify the use of digital remote sensing: the Land Ocean Interaction Study used airborne remote sensing to map and measure inter-tidal habitats along the North Sea coast; the Darwin Initiative funded collaboration with the Makerere University to construct maps, a GIS and a biodiversity database for Sango Bay, Uganda. In 1997, the Remote Sensing Unit incorporated the British National Space Centre's Remote Sensing Applications Unit to become the new CEH Section for Earth Observation, of which Robin Fuller continues as head. His work includes automated generalisation of the LCMGB to the European CORINE format; an update of the LCMGB using CLEVER-Mapping, the integration of satellite, population and buildings / land use data for transport modelling and environmental impact assessment.

Paul Harding is an invertebrate biologist with over 40 years experience in biodiversity information management, biogeography, ecological surveys and research management. Except for one brief spell, he has been employed by NERC (CEH Monks Wood) since 1962 and was Head of the Biological Databases Unit from 1994 to 1998. He established his career with leading ecological surveys; research on changes in area management; evaluation of wood pastures for wildlife conservation; and research on Isopoda. With 12 years experience of advice and research on Saproxylic invertebrates, Paul is now a leading expert in this field. Current activities include involvement at a senior level in: the European Invertebrate Survey; National Federation for Biological Recording; National Biodiversity Network and the national Biological Records Centre (Head).

Nicola Hall joined CEH Edinburgh Biosystem Management Section in 2002 to work on projects in West Africa and to develop carbon and nutrient cycle research within CEH. She holds a BSc in Ecological Science from the University of Edinburgh (1994) and a PhD from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2000). During 1994-5 she worked on a DFID research project in Indonesia on the effects of logging on tropical forest. Her PhD studies involved work on stable isotope applications in plant water use studies, combined with quantitative genetic analysis of traits linked to photosynthesis and water-use efficiency. Current project work at CEH involves development of carbon sequestration models for dryland tree-based systems, as well as the building protocols for fatty acid biomarker analysis of soil microbial populations to investigate rhizosphere dynamics.

Kevin Ingleby holds a HNC in Biology (1977) and an MI Biol. in Ecology and Behaviour (1981) from Napier University, Edinburgh. He is now a Graduate Member of The Institute of Biology (Chartered Biologist) and a member of the British Mycological Society. He joined NERC in 1971, CEH in 1974 and was responsible for nursery and field trials testing ectomycorrhizal fungi and conifer trees in Britain, before joining the Biosystem Management Section (formerly the Tropical Forests Section) in 1987. He has over 30 years experience working with mycorrhizal fungi of temperate and tropical (moist and dry) zone plant species, with a particular expertise in the identification of mycorrhizal fungi, has produced a book on the topic and is now a member of the editorial board of an international publication - Descriptions of Ectomycorrhizae. His overseas work has involved studies of ectomycorrhizal succession on Pinus patula in India, the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum to enhance tree establishment in semi-arid lands trees in Kenya, glasshouse screening and nursery inoculation with ectomycorrhizas of Eucalyptus globulus in Chile, the effects of logging on populations of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in rainforests in Brazil and West Africa, the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in alley-cropping systems in Senegal, the effects of logging on ectomycorrhizal populations of dipterocarps in Indonesia, ectomycorrhizal inoculation of dipterocarps in Vietnam and the use of edible mycorrhizal mushrooms in Vietnam. His current work includes studies on the diversity and persistence of arbuscular mycorrhizas in tropical ecosystems using molecular techniques and the role of mycorrhizas in wastewater recycling in West Africa.

Gerry Lawson has a BSc in Ecological Science from the University of Edinburgh, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and the Institute of Biologists. Between 1973 and 1978 he was worked for the British Antarctic Survey, studying ecology and nutrient cycling in sub-Antarctic wetlands. In 1978 he joined CEH to work on biofuels, agroforestry and biological sewage treatment. In 1988 he joined the Tropical Forests Section of CEH Edinburgh and worked on restoration of soil fertility in Sudan, land clearance effects on soil fertility in Cote d'Ivoire and comparison of silvicultural systems for indigenous hardwoods in Cameroon. He was co-ordinator of the NERC Steering Group on 'Regeneration of Tropical Forests' and part of NERC's 'Terrestrial Initiative on Global Environmental Research'. He was seconded to DFID to work on a forest management project in Cameroon. Gerry's projects include: support for Agroforestry Modelling Users Groups (DFID/FRP), Dryland Agroforestry in Sudan - (DFID/FRP); Databases of Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptations- (DETR); Review of Darwin Initiative (DETR); Silvoarable Agroforestry For Europe (EU); Rangelands in Southern Africa (EU); Coffee Agroforestry in Central America (EU).

Dr Roger Leakey has wide experience in tropical forestry and agroforestry. Between 1993 and 1997, he was seconded to ICRAF as Director of Research and responsible for multi-disciplinary /multi-cultural research teams in twenty countries of Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. He has a PhD from Reading University and has been awarded a DSc by the University of Wales for his research on the domestication of tropical trees for the production of timber and non-timber forest products in forestry and agroforestry systems. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Biology in 1997. He has undertaken studies on vegetative propagation, genetic improvement of tropical trees, soil microbiology, agroforestry in dry and moist tropics and moist forest regeneration, with research projects in Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Costa Rica, Indonesia and Malaysia. Since 1982, he has undertaken consultancies for DFID, World Bank, European Development Fund, FAO and the Australian Meat Research Commission, in Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, India, Bolivia, Costa Rica, ten countries of West Africa and Australia.

Andrew Lowe holds a BSc Hons in Applied Biology (1991) from the University of Bath and a PhD in Plant Evolutionary Biology (1996) from the University of St Andrews. He joined CEH in 1998 and is responsible for managing a molecular laboratory that utilizes PCR based techniques to assess genetic diversity in natural populations of tropical and temperate tree species. Prior to this, Andrew worked for 3 months at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya on a project to assess genetic variation in a germplasm collection of elephant grass. He also worked for CEH previously to examine the phylogeography of bush mango, a west African fruit tree, and at Long Ashton Research Station developing microsatellite markers for mapping and diversity studies of brassica species. His research interests include: phylogeography and genetic diversity of central American mahogany and European oak species and the impact of logging on genetic diversity in Indonesian dipterocarp species. Andrew Lowe is currently on secondment with the University of Queensland.

Lindsay Maskell holds a BSc in Geography, and an MSc in Ecology from U.C.N.W. Bangor, and has been working for CEH since 1995. Prior to joining CEH Lancaster, she worked at CEH Dorset on non-indigenous species and impacts on native plant communities, the influence of viruses on wild plant communities, plant ecological genetics, research on salt marsh plant populations. Lindsay has extensive experience as a botanical field surveyor and has undertaken studies in Central America, mapping habitats, surveying plant communities and botanical inventory.

Philip Mason holds a BSc in Microbiology from the University of Surrey and a PhD from the University of Cambridge "Biology of Bremia lactucae". Initially, his interests at CEH centred on establishing criteria for selecting which ectomycorrhizal fungi would be most appropriate for inoculating tree seedlings bound for temperate forest sites especially in the UK. Since 1985 he has become increasingly involved in ecological studies concerning the role of endomycorrhizal fungi in sustaining tree and crop growth in the moist and arid tropics in Cameroon and Kenya. In addition, his ectomycorrhizal research has expanded to sub-tropical and Mediterranean climates with fieldwork in Chile, Colombia, Australia and India.

Niall McNamara is a soil ecologist with a BSc and MSc in Environmental Sciences from the Universities of Sussex and Strathclyde, respectively. He has worked for CEH since 1997 and prior to this was a Research Assistant at the University of Glasgow. His main area of interest is in the role of land use change/management on soil trace gas exchanges (methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide) and in particular the effect of forestation on these soil processes. Other projects include investigations into tree species effects on soil water chemistry and an assessment of change in carbon stores in drained wetland grasslands. He has experience of working with radioisotopes and stable isotope and is involved with the development of a mobile field laboratory for measuring stable isotopes signatures in trace gases. He has extensive experience in the field and has worked at a variety of ecosystems including forests, farmlands, upland grasslands and wetlands.

Bob Munro joined CEH in 1973, to work on tree physiology and later on surveys of the epidemiology of Dutch elm disease and the ectomycorrhizal ecology associated with the reclamation of derelict land and the genetics of tree nutrition. In 1987 he became project manager of the Agroforestry and Mycorrhizas in Semi-Arid Lands Project, based at the National Museums of Kenya, which involved the establishment of field and nursery experiments to evaluate the benefits of endomycorrhizas for tree establishment and agroforestry. This included the establishment of low-tech propagators for the rooting of tree cuttings as part of a tree improvement programme for multi-purpose species. Experience also includes the screening of ectomycorrhizal isolates for Eucalyptus in Chile, ectomycorrhizal baseline studies of dipterocarp species in Indonesia, and monitoring endomycorrhizal spore populations in Cameroon moist forest and in arid zone in Senegal. He has been involved in studies on Chloroplast DNA, RFLP and microsatellite analysis for genetic diversity of oak (Quercus robur and Q. petraea) including DNA extraction, PCR restriction digestion, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and data interpretation.

Nick Ostle is a soil process ecologist with fundamental research experience in natural and agri-system biogeochemistry, currently working for CEH. Key skills include; expertise in the use and interpretation of stable isotopes as in situ tracers of ecosystem C and N cycles; soil organic matter chemistry and soil biochemistry/enzymology. Nick participated in long-term wetland research examining the influence of abiotic controls on biochemical pathways of greenhouse CO2 production. Recently, Nick has developed a 13CO2 labeling approach to understand the relationship between rhizosphere carbon flow, soil biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions.

John Roberts holds a BSc, PhD and DSc in Botany from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He joined CEH in 1974 as a Plant Physiologist, responsible for investigations into plant physiological control of evaporation and the effects of water stress on plant behaviour. His main areas of research include: plant water stress and irrigation (Mauritius and Niger); crop water use determination by plant physiological methods (Botswana, Sri Lanka, Syria, Niger Kenya and Brazil); development and evaluation of equipment and techniques for measurement of crop use or crop water stress; and vegetation evaluation (Mauritius, Brazil, Niger, India and Sri Lanka); development and evaluation of multi-layer transpiration models for forest canopies (UK, India and Brazil).

Ron Smith is a statistician at CEH who primarily works with air pollution related research but also supports the institute's work in the field of tropical forestry and agro-forestry. His work includes the analysis of permanent sample plot data from Indonesia, particularly for parameterisation and assessment of mathematical models of stand development. He is also involved with a West African study on the potential for selection of fruit trees for their harvestable products along with a socio-economic assessment of market factors. Other work includes studies on tree-crop interactions, nursery work on vegetative propagation, effects of mycorrhizas on plant establishment and modelling the availability of water to tree and crop root systems.

Richard Wadsworth holds a BSc in Land Surveying Science, an MSc in Irrigation Engineering, a PhD 'Integrating land use planning and environmental impact assessment in a decision support system', and an MBA from Loughborough University. From 1981-84 he was Swamp Development Officer in Magbosi, Sierra Leone, developing irrigation schemes for double cropping rice. Following this he worked on a series of surveys in Kuwait, Sudan and Oman. From 1987-94 he was based at Newcastle University first carrying out research commissioned by Anglia Water and latterly on the NERC/ESRC Land Use Programme. Richard joined CEH in 1994 as a Mathematical Modeller and is now head of the Ecological Systems Modelling Group at CEH Monks Wood.

Allan Watt holds a BSc in Agricultural Zoology from the University of Glasgow and a PhD from the University of East Anglia "Life History Strategies of Cereal Aphids". Between 1978 and 1980 he was employed as a population ecologist at the Coypu Laboratory, Norwich where he developed a population monitoring and forecasting system. He then spent 2 years as an Agricultural Research Council Research Associate at the University of Southampton, studying the quantification of aphid damage to wheat crops and the economics of pest control decision making. Since 1982 he has been employed at CEH and is now Head of the CEH site at Banchory. His research interests focus on science underpinning the conservation of biodiversity and the management of forest pests. He is currently involved in three EU-funded projects on biodiversity (BioAssess, BIOFORUM, and BioPlatform) and has previously worked on biodiversity in tropical forests. Allan is particularly interested in developing methods for monitoring biodiversity (indicators and rapid biodiversity assessment) and in quantifying the impact of land use change on biodiversity e.g. forest clearance and conversion to plantation. He also currently works on the pine beauty moth, the most serious pest of established forests in the UK, and has previously worked on pests such as the mahogany shoot borer. Allan is currently the co-editor of Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 

Rehema holds a PhD "environmental controls of reproduction" from the University of Adelaide and started working at CEH Banchory in 2004 as an Environmental Decision Modeller. Before joining CEH she was Acting Dean of Research at the University of Transkei, South Africa from 2001-2004, and was a Lecturer at the Department of Zoology at Transkei from 1996-2001. Rehema's research interests include: (i) Consensus building for biodiversity conservation: focussing on the origins, forms and predictors of conflicts in biodiversity conservation; exploring interactions between policy makers, scientists, community members and other stakeholders; developing and testing tools such as participatory appraisal, decision modelling and systems analysis; and investigating knowledge transfer and interdisciplinarity in research; (ii) Utilisation and management of natural resources: pursuing partnerships to conduct research that, whilst using a scientific framework of hypothesis testing, serves to inform relevant government departments and NGOs towards sustainable and integrated approaches to develop conservation policies ; (iii) mammalian reproductive strategies, particularly the environmental control of seasonal reproduction.

Julia Wilson is Head of the Biosystem Management Section at CEH Edinburgh. She holds a BSc in Botany from the University of London and a PhD in Plant Physiology from the University of Edinburgh. She joined CEH in 1977 and her work has focused on forestry and agroforestry in the tropics since the mid 1980s. She has undertaken research projects and consultancies in a wide range of countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Costa Rica and Brazil. Her work focuses on three main areas: interspecific differences in tree - crop interactions in agroforestry, focusing on below ground competition and how to control it, arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi in forests and agroforestry systems - both the practical application of mycorrhizal fungi to improve tree growth and the impacts of site disturbance on mycorrhizal populations and the implications of this for regeneration, the use of DNA markers to study population structure and geneflow in trees.

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