Past seminars 2008

View past seminars from 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007

A series of science seminars dealing with climate change issues (300KB pdf)

Wednesday 17 December 2008, 14.00hr in Macaulay B.

Dr Robin Matthews,
Leader of Climate Change Programme, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute

"REDD: Can slowing tropical deforestation rates help to reduce GHG emissions?"

Wednesday 10 December 2008, 14.00hr in Macaulay B.

Dr Richard Tipper,
Managing Director , Eco-metica Ltd.

"Baseline methodologies for REDD projects"

Wednesday 26 November 2008, 14.00hr in Macaulay B.

Dr Tom Ball,
Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, UNESCO Centre, University of Dundee

"Land Management and flooding: exploring the linkages in a changing climate"

Wednesday 19 November 2008, 14.00hr in Macaulay B.

Dr Roger Catchpole,
Senior Spatial Ecologist, Analysis, Reporting and Modelling Team, Natural England

"Species Range Analysis and Conservation Targeting in England"

Friday 17th October 2008, 14.00hr in Macaulay B.

Professor Bill Adams, Conservation and Development and Fellow of Downing College Cambridge, will be discussing

“Beware the Silver Bullet: Ecosystem Services and Conservation Strategy”

Professor Adams research addresses the relationship between society and nature, with a particular focus on rural development in relation to conservation. He is interested in how our ideas of nature affect the way the environment is understood, managed and governed, which leads him to work in these main areas:

1. The policy implications of particular ideas about nature and its conservation and use, particularly protected areas, resilience and ecological restoration;
2. The history and development of nature conservation in the context of wider environmentalist concern, particularly about sustainability;
3. The institutional relationships that underpin natural resource use, and processes of collaboration and conflict among stakeholders;
4. The power of discourse and narrative in shaping environment and development policy.

Current projects include capacity building to alleviate human-elephant conflict in northern Kenya, understanding the political ecology of conservation, and research into the social and political dimensions of sustainability in natural resource management. He has previously worked on African dryland agriculture, the development of floodplain wetland environments and the downstream social and ecological effects of dams.
For further information see: http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/adams/

7th October 2008, 14.00hr in Macaulay B.

Dr Stuart Whitten from CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra, Australia, is visiting the Institute & giving a seminar on "Auctions for natural resource management: Some recent lessons and advances from Australia"

Abstract

Market-based instruments, especially reverse auctions, are being increasingly used to achieve public good ecosystem service objectives in Australia. CSIRO has been at the forefront in exploring the criteria and design factors underpinning success. In this presentation I will explore three recent research foci: landholder coordination; landholder participation drivers; and focusing on outcomes. In many cases there is a need for a coordinated landscape scale approach to deliver ecosystem services and one research area has focused on delivering coordination and sufficient competition for cost-effectiveness. Achieving coordinated outcomes will necessarily require high levels of participation and it is important to identify the potential barriers that may deter landholders from participating in a tender along with opportunities that exist for overcoming these barriers. Focusing on outcomes offers potential advantages in service delivery by reducing adverse selection and moral hazard problems but redistributes risk from government to landholders. Field evidence suggests landholders are willing accept increased risks providing they are able to be managed within normal farm operations.

Friday 5th September 2008, 15.30hr in Macaulay B.

Dr Chris Jeans from the Department of Earth Sciences, Universityof Cambridge gave a seminar entitled “Rough Justice & Soil Forensics

Abstract
Traces of soils and sediments are being used increasingly by the police to link people, objects and locations during their investigations. Many of the scientists doing this work are academics; others are based at government research institutes or are employed by consulting companies. The scientists who carry out the investigations and present the evidence to court are called ‘expert witnesses’. In the last few years - particularly since Professor Sir Roy Meadow’s evidence on cot death cases has been discredited - expert witnesses have had a rough time in the media. Earth scientists have not been immune from this criticism. At the moment there is a series of appeals going through the courts by individuals, convicted of murder, based in part on soil sediment evidence, who claim their innocence. Unless the general understanding improves, of the nature, potential and limitations of soil and sediments as tracers, this line of investigation may become discredited.

This talk deals with personal experience as an expert witness for the Defence in five murder cases since 2000 where soil evidence played an important role.

Wednesday 13th August from 1500-1630hr Macaulay Suite B.

1. Geophagy in Africa and Possible Health Implications.
   Dr Ruth Kutalek and Dr Armin Prinz.Unit Ethnomedicine and International Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna. (24 KB Word doc)
2. Clay Mineralogy of Geophagic Materials from Tanzania and Other Countries.
   Jeff Wilson(1), Steve Hillier(1) and Sera Young(2).(1)Macaulay Land Use Research Institute. (2)University of California, Berkeley, USA. (12KB Rich Text doc)

Friday 11th July 2008, 1400hrs.

Parliamentary committees

Peter McGrath, Clerk to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee at The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh, gave a talk on the work of the Parliamentary committees, (particularly the Rural Affairs and Environment one), and their forthcoming activities. (1MB ppt)

Monday 9th June 2008, 1400hrs Maxwell Room.

“Linking forest policy agenda with carbon sequestration opportunities in Ukraine"

Ukraine has one of the largest forest areas in the East European Region--34,800 square miles. Ukrainian forests are very important for watershed and soil protection, biodiversity conservation, and as a source of timber. Forestry is an important source of employment. After the 40% deforestation in the 19th century, during the last 50 years large-scale reforestation programs have been implemented. After obtaining independence in 1991 and during the transition period in the 1990s, Ukraine faces major challenges in adapting forest management to the requirements of a market economy, including changes of forest ownership structure, new legislation and forest policy, institutional framework, improving content of forest management and marketing of forest products. Joining the process of development of common targets and principles for forest management in Europe, Ukraine would foster environmentally sustainable development, including development of such important forestry issues as preservation and regeneration of biodiversity of forest ecosystems, forest certification, and carbon sequestration.
Block 1. General outlook of forests and forestry in Ukraine.
Block 2. Forest policy in Ukraine: state and perspectives. Institutional analysis.
Block 3. Assessment of possibilities for carbon deposition by forests of Ukraine. Methodology and experimental data. Modeling of forest phytomass and deposited carbon. Normative system. Perspectives and possibilities of “carbon” stands creation.

Professor Petro Lakyda is the Director of the Institute of Forestry and Landscape Architecture of the National Agricultural University of Ukraine. He worked as a visiting scientist at the International Institute of Applied System Analysis, Luxemburg, Austria, and is now one of the Ukraine’s leading experts in multifunctional forestry, with a special focus on the assessment of carbon deposition in forest biomass. Professor Lakyda’s contribution to the projects “Preparation and design of Ukraine reforestation” (Biocarbon project in co- with the University of Tuscia) and “Bio energy Europe” (in co- with Freiburg University) is among the most recent and internationally recognized. He is the author of 190 scientific publications in the field of biomass and carbon deposition assessment, forest policy, sustainable forest management and education for sustainable development.

Monday 9th June 2008, 1445hrs Maxwell Room.

“Environmental, and land use policy challenges in course of the Ukraine’s transition to a market economy and democracy”

The presentation starts with the description of regional differences and characterization of the most important environmental challenges of rural territories in Ukraine. Information about governmental policies in the field of environment protection will be provided. The talk will examine the impacts of the past and ongoing policy and institutional reforms on the economic and environmental performances in land use; define and assess the socio-economic problems existing in rural areas in Ukraine as the result of economic restructuring; analyse institutional capabilities and community involvement with respect to potential land uses of the abandoned lands. A special focus will be on the area of the Ukrainian Carpathians, where going beyond the analysis of traditional rural land uses, the most important ecological and socio-economic problems in mining regions and the consequences of the mines closure will be presented, with the analysis of post-mining land restoration and land use planning in mining regions. The perspectives on how to link institutions and capabilities with sustainable land use practices for currently abandoned in Ukraine lands will be discussed.
 
Dr. Ihor Soloviy is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Ecological Economics, the Ukrainian National Forestry University.  Dr. Soloviy was a Fulbright Scholar at North Carolina State University, USA (Oct 2004 - Aug 2005).  He was awarded the German Academic Exchange Service scholarship in 2001 (Dresden University) and in 2007 (Gottingen University), was a Fellow of the Tempus-Tacis Programme (University of Freiburg, University of Gent, 1998-2001), and Land Conservation and Stewardship Programme (New England, USA and Canada, Oct-Nov 1996) sponsored by the Atlantic Environmental Centre. 

Among the most recent projects are:  “Integrating Ecological Economics and Sustainable Forest Management into Ukraine’s Transition Economy” (in co- with Gund Institute for Ecological Economics and Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont), “Forest and society-measuring and communicating dimensions of landscape sustainability” (in co- with Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Byelorussian Academy of Sciences).
Dr. Soloviy is the author of 140 scientific publications and nearly 50 popular articles in the field of environmental and forest policies, ecological and land use economics, sustainable forest management, sustainable land use planning, education for sustainable development, and environmental ethics.

Monday 19th May 2008, 1400hrs Macaulay Suite A.

“Population and Environment in the Amazon Basin: Towards Integrative Land Change Science”

The talk will synthesize over a decade of research on integrating the study of human population (demographics) with examination of land use and land cover change in the Brazilian Amazon. In addition to the empirical discussion of these studies, there will also be a discussion of the evolution of methods used in this research to accomplish this integration, and what else is needed to further advance the field of integrative land change science thereby linking the social to the biophysical sciences.

Professor Emilio Moran, Indiana University, USA is Distinguished Professor and the James H. Rudy Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University, Professor of Environmental Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Geography, Director of the Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Environmental Change (ACT), and co-Director of the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change (CIPEC). Professor. Moran is the author of seven books, ten edited volumes and more than 140 journal articles and book chapters. He is formally trained in anthropology, tropical ecology, tropical soil science, and remote sensing. He was Leader of Focus 1 of LUCC from 1998 to 2005 and has been engaged in land use and land cover change research for many years. His research has been supported by NSF, NIH, NOAA and NASA for the past decade. His two latest books, People and Nature (Blackwell 2006) and Human Adaptability, 3rd edition (Westview 2007) address broader issues of human interaction with the environment under conditions of change.

For further information please contact Jane Lund

Thursday 15th May 2008, 1400hrs Macaulay Suite A.

"Spatial Modelling of Water Quality on Large River Networks", David O'Donnell, University of Glasgow

Summary:

From a statistical modelling viewpoint, modelling water quality over
a river network through time presents a number of challenges since
the observations are often irregular in space and time, with
monitoring stations being added or dropped.

However, a more unique and challenging problem is the modelling of
the spatial dependence, essential for spatial prediction at
unsampled locations on a river network. One question has concerned
how best to adapt standard prediction methodology such as kriging to
incorporate a more appropriate distance measure than simple
Euclidean distance, reflecting the connectedness of the river.
Another development has been the use of "stream distance" in place
of, and possibly in addition to, Euclidean distance.

These two approaches have been implemented and compared on data
available from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)'s
routine monitoring of the River Tweed in the borders of Scotland and
England. The data span a period of twenty-one years, beginning in
1986. During this time period, up to eighty-three stations have been
monitored for a variety of chemical and biological determinands. This
presentation will focus on nitrogen, a key nutrient in determining
water quality, especially given the Nitrates Directive.

Tuesday 25th March 2008

Dr Tim Wheeler, Crops and Climate Group, Walker Institute for Climate Systems Research, University of Reading will speak on Climate Change and Food Crops: from Observations to Simulation

Summary:

The productivity of food crops is inherently sensitive to climate. Human-induced climate change is expected to impact on crop yields, with a range of consequences that depend on, for example, location, crop type and the degree of climate change. Some of the first attempts to model changes in crop yield at a global scale suggested that crop production in temperate areas could adapt to a moderate degree of climate change in contrast to tropical regions where productivity was thought to be particularly vulnerable. Dr Wheeler will examine this general statement in the light of more recent research using more extensive observations and improved crop simulation models.

Wednesday 19th March 2008

Professor Erwin Bulte, Tilburg University the Netherlands and Wageningen University will speak on "Natural resources, economic growth and conflict: Dimensions of the resource curse”

Summary:

We critically evaluate the empirical basis for the "resource curse" and find that, despite the topic's popularity in economics and political science research, this apparent paradox is a red herring. The most commonly used measure of 'resource abundance' can be more usefully interpreted as a proxy for 'resource dependence'-endogenous to underlying structural factors.

In multiple estimations that combine resource abundance and dependence, and institutional and constitutional variables, we find that (i) resource abundance, constitutions and institutions determine resource dependence, (ii) resource dependence does not affect growth or violent conflict (civil war), and (iii) resource abundance positively affects growth and institutional quality, and reduces the risk of conflict.

Wednesday 12th March 2008 (1030hr)

Andrea Hrabalova and Pavla Wollmuthova from the Research Institute of Agricultural Economics (VUZE), Czech Republic, discussed “Implementation and evaluation of agri-environmental measures: Experiences and lessons from the Czech Republic.”

For more information contact Gerald Schwarz

Wednesday 12th March 2008 (1400hr)

Dr Jan Mulder, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences spoke on “Effects of projected climate change in southern Norway on runoff of organic carbon and nitrogen from boreal upland catchments”

Summary:

Projected changes in climate in southern Norway, with milder winters and more precipitation in late summer and autumn are expected to affect leaching of organic and inorganic nitrogen (N) and organic carbon (C) from high altitude, non-forested catchments.

Such systems with shallow soils, dominated by calluna, molinia and sphagnum, make up about 70% of the landscape. Quantitative effects were assessed in whole-ecosystem experiments, involving manipulation of small headwater catchments (30 - 200 m²). Manipulation of winter climate included snow removal (to simulate an unstable snow cover with frequent freeze-thaw episodes) and insulation (to mimic a stable snow cover, preventing soil freezing). In summer, selected catchments received irrigation water and runoff chemistry was compared with that from untreated reference catchments. Snow removal resulted in soil frost and increased TOC and TON concentrations in runoff. This was supported by lab experiments, which also suggested that longer periods with permanent frost are more important for organic C fluxes than unstable conditions with frequent freeze-thaw episodes. In the initial phase of snowmelt, nitrate leaching from the snow removal sites was significantly lower than from the insulated catchments, whereas nitrate was relatively high during later stages of snowmelt. Additional water input in summer caused little change in TOC and TON concentrations, suggesting a pool of readily available DOC in soils.

These and other results will be discussed with respect to underlying mechanisms and potential impacts of projected changes in climate on the dominating ecosystems of southern Norway.

Wednesday 5th March 2008

Professor Richard Aspinall, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute spoke on “Representation of drivers and dynamics in land use change models”

Summary:

I will explore two representation challenges for analysis and modelling of land use systems. These are representation of drivers and representation of time for addressing dynamics of change. I argue that improved representations of both are needed in order to provide better scientific insights into combined environmental, social and economic aspects of land use.

Friday 29th February 2008

Pete Smith, Professor of Soils & Global Change, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen spoke on 'How the biophysical mitigation potentials from ecosystem / land surface models are used to assess economic potential (with economic models) at different future carbon prices'. Time: 15.30 in the Macaulay Suite.

Summary:

Agricultural lands occupy about 40-50% of the Earth’s land surface. Considering all gases, the global technical mitigation potential from agriculture (excluding fossil fuel offsets from biomass) by 2030 is estimated to be ~5500-6000 Mt CO2-eq. yr-1.

Economic potentials are estimated to be 1500-1600, 2500-2700, and 4000-4300 Mt CO2-eq. yr-1 at carbon prices of up to 20, 50 and 100 US$ t CO2-eq.-1, respectively. About 70% of the potential lies in non-OECD/EIT countries, 20% in OECD countries and 10% for EIT countries. In addition, agriculture can supply feed-stocks for bio-energy. The economic mitigation potential for agricultural bio-energy in 2030 is estimated to be 70-1260, 560-2320 and 2720 Mt CO2-eq. yr-1 at prices up to 20, 50 and above 100 USD t CO2-eq.-1, respectively.

These potentials represent mitigation of 5-90% of all other agricultural mitigation measures combined. An additional mitigation of 770 Mt CO2-eq. yr-1 could be achieved by 2030 by improved energy efficiency in agriculture.

This talk will focus on how results from ecosystem / land surface models can be used to drive uncoupled economic models. Results will be compared to estimates from Integrated Assessment Models.

Wednesday 27th February 2008

Dr Stewart Rhind, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute will give a seminar on “Endocrine disrupting compounds - a fuss about nothing or an insidious threat?”

Summary:

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are, primarily, man-made chemicals that are ubiquitous in the environment. Potentially, every type of animal, from bacteria to humans, could be directly and indirectly affected by them. The aim of this presentation will be to consider what EDCs are, where they are from, some of their key properties, some of our recent findings and what they might tell us about EDCs with respect to human and farm animal health, but also to biodiversity and ecosystem function.

Wednesday 20th February 2008

Dr Martyn Futter, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute will give a seminar on "Catchment Biogeochemical Modelling Using INCA"

Summary:

INCA, the Integrated Catchments model is a generic framework for modelling catchment scale biogeochemistry. The model simulates the effects of climate, land use and atmospheric deposition on diffuse pollutant concentrations in surface waters. INCA is a semi-distributed modelling framework that simulates both production and transport processes. Versions of the model have been developed to simulate the behaviour of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), sediments and mercury (Hg) in natural, semi-natural and agricultural landscapes. While originally developed for lowland catchments in England, INCA for N has been successfully applied to montane, forested and Mediterranean catchments. The P version is being adapted for modelling northern European agricultural landscapes. Currently, the DOC and Hg versions have only been applied in forested catchments. Like many models, INCA is a tool for process understanding and forecasting. Some of my recent work has examined controls on DOC and Hg in surface waters. The model has been used to simulate the combined effects of climate and acid deposition on surface water DOC concentrations and as an exploratory tool for understanding spatio-temporal Hg dynamics. INCA has also been used to assess the possible effect of climate and land use change scenarios on surface water N and DOC concentrations. I will present some of the INCA simulations carried out by myself and collaborators and discuss opportunities for future applications to Scottish sites.

Wednesday 13th February 2008

Dr Klaus Hubacek, Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds gave a seminar on “Working with stakeholders - a mediated modeling approach in UK uplands”

Summary:

The modelling of complex and dynamic socio-environmental systems requires close collaboration between research disciplines and stakeholders. If models are representations of aspects of reality, how can we build models without inputs from people who interact with the system? This paper reflects on findings of case study research involving stakeholders in knowledge creation through conceptual and formal model building to support upland management. The uncertainty, multiple scales and conflicting understandings of stakeholders that are inherent in natural resource management necessitate a strong focus on participatory processes in integrated modelling. This leads to the recognition that problems and solutions should be identified by the stakeholders themselves, emphasizing the intersection and complementarity of lay and expert knowledge.

Stakeholders in this context comprise varied groups such as land mangers (e.g. grouse moor managers and sheep farmers), water companies and water users, tourists, residents, policy-makers and researchers. Models are used at multiple stages to help formulate problems, create and compare conceptual understanding and explore implications. This requires that involvement of stakeholders should happen early in the problem formulation and research process to help answer the 'right' questions and provide 'relevant' outputs. This poses a number of interesting new challenges to the organisation of the research process. In contrast to traditional approaches of matching model components to expertise in the research team, modelling expertise must adapt to answer the questions and priorities that emerge from stakeholder engagement.

Klaus Hubacek is a reader at the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds. Since 1999, he has also been affiliated with the Land Use Change project at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (http://www.iiasa.ac.at) in Austria. Klaus has conducted studies for a number of national agencies in Austria, China, Japan, and the UK, and international institutions such as the European
Statistical Office (EUROSTAT), the OECD, and UNESCO. An important focus of his research is on the interaction between economy and environment and developing and modelling scenarios of future change, often in close collaboration with stakeholders. Recently, he has been awarded a large grant from the UK research councils to lead a large interdisciplinary project group working with stakeholders on developing visions for a sustainable future and sustainable land management practices.

Monday 4th February 2008

Professor Steve Yearley, Director of the Genomics Forum, University of Edinburghwill gave a seminar on “Can conservation really be ‘scientific’”

Summary:

In a curious assertion attributed to the Pope by the Daily Mail last December was the idea that "it was vital that the international community base[s] its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement". The Mail was interested (of course) in environmentalists' alleged exaggerations. In this talk I am interested in the prospect that even the Pope thinks we should put science ahead of dogma with regard to the environment.

When it seems that virtually everyone has come round to the idea that science is the authoritative way to speak about the environment, I want to explore two main issues. First, what - in practice - are the main limitations to using science to speak for the environment and its needs? Second, is scientific understanding sufficient to speak for environmental conservation; if not what other forms of expertise matter?

In this talk I shall use case-study data concerning environmental legislation, environmental controversies and environmental policy-making to identify the answers to these questions.

Out of a sense of fairness, I shall also - very briefly - clarify what His Holiness actually said and highlight the differences between his text and the Mail's account.

Wednesday 30 January 2008

Dr Fred Worrall, Durham University discussed “The future of northern peatlands - deckchairs on the Titanic or new El Dorado”

Wednesday 23 January 2008

Professor Steve Redpath from the Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability (ACES), discussed "The view from the mountain - challenges in Conservation Science".

Summary:

Aldo Leopold was one of the founders of modern Conservation Science. In this talk Professor Redpath will examine his influence on this rapidly growing field and discuss how pertinent his ideas still are today.

Professor Redpath will explore some of these issues by focussing on the Scottish uplands. Whether it is to do with the ecology of individual species, the management of predators, the impact of land use on biodiversity, or the trade-offs between ecosystem services; the uplands illustrate the range of challenges facing conservation.

Professor Redpath will draw on a variety of examples to highlight these points and end by outlining some of the key future challenges for Conservation Science.

Wednesday 16 January 2008

Professor Chris Jefferies, UWTC, University of Abertay gave a seminar on "Controlling diffuse pollution from highways - Soil is the key".

Summary:

Professor Jefferies has been working with ADAS on a SNIFFER project to assess the risks to groundwater from traffic-based pollutants using SOIL based SUDS. Soil-based swales and detention basins are now in common use as part of SUDS treatment train and the work has assessed the risk (or prevention of risk) they pose to groundwater pollution. Four linked studies have been undertaken;

1. The role of nutrients in highway SUDS (desk based)
2. Lysimeter studies with four different soil columns
3. Pollutant degradation studies
4. Field sites for calibration.

The contaminants being examined are heavy metals, PAHs and hydrocarbons in the soil and sediment.

Chris will give an overview of the results from the study and talk about ideas for future work which might improve highway design by linking the results from this study with widely available soil information such as the HOST classification.