Dr Naomi Gatis
Lecturer in Nature-based Climate Solutions
N.Gatis@exeter.ac.uk
5892
+44 (0) 1392 725892
CREWW Building
Overview
I am interested in the effects of landscape management (peatland restoration, afforestation, natural woodland recolonisation, regenerative agriculture) on ecosystem function, with a focus on vegetation change, carbon cycling and climate change adaptation.
I use a range of field-based methods including dynamic greenhouse gas flux measurements (survey, continuous chamber and eddy covariance) and vegetation and soil surveys. As well as proximal (digital cameras, terrestrial laser scanner), distal (drone mounted true-colour and multispectral cameras, aerial photography, LiDAR, airborne radiometric survey) and satellite (Sentinel 1 and 2) remotely sensed data together with geographical information systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to investigate links between land management decisions; vegetation community, structure and distribution; and the resultant effects on carbon stocks and cycles from plot to landscape extents.
Qualifications
PhD Physical Geography entitled "Determining the effects of peatland restoration on carbon dioxide exchange and its potential for climate change mitigation" (University of Exeter)
BSc Environmental Geoscience (University of Edinburgh)
MSc Applied Hydrogeology (University of Newcastle)
Research
Research interests
Current Projects
- Nature for Climate Change Peatland Grant Scheme – Mapping peat extent across the Southwest. Understanding and quantifying the effects of restoration on carbon fluxes both aqueous and gaseous.
- Net Zero Plus - Quantifying carbon storage (above/below ground, woody and soil) and fluxes (soil respiration and net ecosystem exchange) in a variety of treescapes to understand the greenhouse gas removal potential of afforestation. https://netzeroplus.ac.uk/
- MOD Mapping Project - Using high temporal and spatial resolution satellite data (Sentinel 1 & 2) to map habitats across the Army estate.
- RePEAT - To assess how accurately the carbon stock of peatlands can be estimated by remotely sensed data, and to estimate peatland carbon stocks in representative Norwegian development project sites.
Previous Research
- SWEEP 023 Woodlands to Moorlands - (2021-2022) Using emerging, high temporal and spatial resolution satellite data (Sentinel 2) to map habitat type and change across Dartmoor National Park. https://sweep.ac.uk/portfolios/habitat-mapping/
- Upstream Thinking 3 - (2020-2021) Investigating potential sources of poor water quality in several drinking water catchments in the Southwest.
- Mires on the Moors – (2014 – 2020) Research to quantify and understand the greenhouse gas fluxes from the peatlands of southwest England and how they are altered by ecohydrological restoration. https://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/creww/research/casestudies/miresproject/