Overview

I am a biogeochemist with expertise in climatic regulation of carbon fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. My particular area of expertise is peatlands and I have targeted my research to peatlands situated in different climatic zones to build a global perspective. I am also well placed to bridge empirical field/laboratory methods and global modelling. My career aim is to elucidate the unique role of peatlands in the Earth System covering multiple time horizons, e.g. from peat inception and accumulation over the Holocene, through to the potential impacts of enhanced peatland emissions accelerating climate change, with clear policy-relevance for avoiding dangerous climate change. I use a variety of methods in order to achieve this, including gas flux measurements, the paleo-record, modelling and biogeochemistry.

I was recently awarded an ERC Consolidator grant (TroPeaCC) focussed on tropical peatland carbon cycling. This work will complement a NERC funded project entitled: "ICAAP: Increased Carbon Accumulation in Arctic Peatlands". I am co-I in two exciting grants, both studying different aspects of tropical peatlands: "KaLi: Multiple risks associated with drought and peatland fires in Indonesian Borneo" (GCRF funded) and "Ecosystem Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics of Tropical Peatland (EDANDOTP)" funded by the Malaysian Oil Palm Board.

I was previously involved in a NERC-funded project entitled “Peatlands and the global carbon cycle during the past millennium: an assessment using observations and models”. I previously worked in Lund, Sweden, modelling the dynamic interactions of fire, vegetation, climate and human population in Mediterranean areas as part of the FUME European project. Earlier on, I worked at the University of Bristol, on a project entitled “Climate Change and the Uplands” commissioned by the Environment Agency, to study the implications of climate change for peatland soils in the UK and the effects on ecosystem services including carbon storage, flooding and water quality.

Previously, I worked towards a PhD funded by NERC with a CASE studentship entitled “Temperature effects on trace gas production and uptake in aerobic and anaerobic soils” at the University of Bristol

Qualifications

PhD in Biogeochemistry of Peatlands. University of Bristol
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Canterbury Christ Church University
MSc. Degree in Chemistry. University of Kent
BSc. Degree in Chemistry. Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Research group links

• Environmental change
• Landscape and ecosystem dynamics

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Research

Research interests

I am a biogeochemist and I study peatlands, in particular, I am interesting in the role they play in the C cycle and also in the management of these beautiful ecosystems in order to preserve all of the ecosystem services and invisible benefits they provide. I currently I have projects that span the whole globe from the poles (Arctic, Antarctic) to the tropics (S America, SE Asia, Africa, Australia). I also used a variety of different methods that ranges from palaeo-biogeochemistry to present-day fluxes and future forecasting using models.

1) Understanding the processes driving functioning of peatland ecosystems and the carbon exchanges at the global scale in order to be able to predict their fate in a changing climate. Within this research area, I run a number of on-going projects:

i)               The Arctic peatland carbon sink is the focus of the recently awarded NERC-funded project that started in 2019. This project will shed light into the conditions necessary for new peatland expansion in new areas of the Arctic that are now suitable for plant growth due to the lengthening of the growing season. Additionally, the project will explore the response of existing sub-Arctic peatlands to the amplified warming they are experiencing. I am a project partners in two parallel projects also investigating similar topics: an MSB-FRA project: Peat expansion in Arcit Tundra (TundraPEAT) led by Zicheng Yu, US. and a project funded by the Finnish Academy led by Minna Valiranta (Response of high-latitude peatlands to past and recent warming - predictions for future climate feedbacks).

ii)             The tropical peatland carbon sink is the focus of the ERC Consolidator grant that will start soon. I will work on the key questions: environmental and climatic controls on peatland extent, controls on carbon accumulation rates and also on methane emissions from tropical peatlands. All are these are areas in which our knowledge is limited. This project proposes to use the palaeo record, modern day fluxes and modelling as complementary tools. This work is also complemented by the grant in which I am a Co-I: “Ecosystem Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics of Tropical Peatlands” funded by the Malaysian Oil Palm Board led by Tim Hill.

iii)            Past changes and Antarctic science – I am the main supervisor in a PhD project reconstructing quaternary changes in wind over the Southern Ocean in order to understand how the ocean C sink has changed in the past (student: Alex Whittle, co-supervisors Dan Charman, Dom Hodgson and Stephen Roberts). Additionally, I am also involved in a project to reconstruct temperatures using the peatland record and GDGTs in Antarctic samples (with David Naafs, Bristol and Stephen Roberts at BAS).

iv)            Biogeochemistry of peatlands – I am a co-supervisor in a current PhD project working on biomarkers of methanogenic archaea and the development of proxies to understand past changes in the decomposition processes in peatlands based at the University of Bristol (Jerome Blewett: supervised by Dr Naafs and Prof Pancost and myself). And I also co-supervise a PhD project based in Bristol (Anne Eberle: supervised by Casey Bryce) working on Actic peatlands on a project entitled: "How do redox and temperature fluctuations influence mineral protection of organic matter during permafrost thaw?"

2) Peatland management, restoration and land use change impacts on peatland ecosystem functioning. The knowledge derived from the following projects will hopefully be useful in assessing ecosystem service provision and management of peatlands.

i)              Peatland ecosystem services in the UK– I currently supervise a project on sphagnum reintroduction in Exmoor peatlands, funded by SWW (student: Paul Tansley), co-supervised by Morag Angus. I am also co-supervisor of a PhD student based at Bristol working in the Welsh peatlands on a project entitled: "Assessing the impact of Black Mountains peatland restoration on freshwater ecosystems" (student: Fin Ring-Hrubesh) supervised by Casey Bryce. I was also a co-I of a UK-focussed project funded by NERC: “Identifying potential tipping points in the benefits derived from the UK's land ecosystems” that has recently finished and was led by Tim Lenton.

ii)               Peatland restoration and ecosystem services in the tropics - I am co-I on a GCRF funded project led by Frank Van Veen (KaLi: Multiple Risks associated with drought and peatland fires in Indonesian Borneo. I supervis a PhD project "Understanding the role of fire in Amazonian forests and peatlands", student: Yuwan Wang - funded by QUEX. I am a project partner in a large project understanding effects of land use change and restoration in Indonesia (funded by the Australian Research Council, with Prof Moss). I recently supervised a M Res student (Kennedy Lewis) with Tim Hill working on impacts of oil palm plantations on the biomass stored in Malaysian peatlands.

Research grants

• 2020 European Research Council
  TroPeaCC: Tropical Peatlands and the Carbon Cycle. Tropical peatlands are the most carbon-dense ecosystems in the world and they store the equivalent of ~10 years of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Despite their importance, crucial questions remain about carbon cycling in tropical peatlands and improving understanding is critical as they are at high risk from climate change and drainage for oil palm cultivation. TroPeaCC will provide a step-change gain in our understanding of tropical peatland functioning and in projecting their response to climate change. PI Gallego-Sala will use her unique background that bridges peatland modelling and observations to deliver a novel interdisciplinary approach to tackle four outstanding questions about tropical peatlands: Q1: What controls the geographical distribution of peatlands in the tropics? TASK1: To assess the tropical peatland extent using a combination of models Q2: How large is the tropical peatland CO2 sink and what are its main climatic drivers? TASK2: To characterize the drivers of carbon accumulation rates in tropical peatlands using the palaeo-archive. Q3: How large is the methane flux in tropical peatlands? What are the main controls at the intercontinental scale? TASK3: To determine the main controls on methane fluxes in tropical peatlands, using eddy covariance, chamber-based gas flux measurements, and ground penetrating radar. Q4: What is the overall carbon balance of tropical peatlands and how will this change in the future? TASK4: To forecast future changes of the extent of tropical peatlands, of the carbon sink and of methane emissions, using the results of Tasks 1-3 to parameterise and evaluate a global dynamic vegetation model that includes tropical peatlands for the first time. The interdisciplinary approach will lead to a comprehensive understanding of the role of tropical peatlands in the global carbon cycle, allowing their inclusion in earth system models, and informing management decisions to optimise provision of multiple ecosystem services.
• 2020 Global Challenges Research Fund
  Kali: Multiple risks associated with drought and peatland fires in Indonesian Borneo (GCRF). A multidisciplinary approach to find ways of mitigating the impacts associated with drought and fires in Indonesia.
• 2019 NERC
  ICAAP: Increased Carbon Accumulation in Arctic Peatlands. The over-arching aim of the project is to test the hypothesis that changes in the Arctic peatland C pool will help mitigate future warming, taking account of both changes in accumulation rates and changes in the extent of peatlands.
• 2019 Malaysian Oil Palm Board
  Ecosystem Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics of Tropical Peatland (EDANDOTP). Investigating the impacts of Oil Palm Plantations on tropical peatlands of peninsural Malaysia.
• 2016 NERC
  Identifying potential tipping points in the benefits derived from the UK's land ecosystems NERC Valuing Nature Programme - Tipping points
• 2015 South West Water
  Mires Project: Understanding the impact of moorland restoration on water quantity, quality and gas fluxes. Phase II
• 2015 EU Marie Curie Training Grant
  EU2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship - Anne Quillet. PEATMOD: PEATland modelling for global carbon cycle and climate models PI with Angela Gallego-Sala. €195,455
• 2010 NERC Std Grant
  Millipeat - Peatlands and the Global Carbon Cycle during the Past Millennium: a Global assessment using observations and models

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Publications

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External Engagement and Impact

Committee/panel activities

Co-Leader of the PAGES C-PEAT working group

Member of the Expert Panel [W&T8] for the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO).

International recognition, such as international research collaborations, visiting research posts in overseas institutions, involvement at senior levels in international research associations, acting as referee for national and international research councils.

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Teaching

Modules

2023/24

Information not currently available

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Supervision / Group

Research Fellows

Postgraduate researchers

Research Technicians

Alumni

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