'Looking Up'

A Fish-Eye View of a Changing Climate, by Grace Garner.

Grace Garner

“My research investigates the effects of a changing climate on UK stream temperatures and also measures which may mitigate the profound potential impacts of a warmer climate on freshwater ecosystems.”

"I use images such as this one in conjunction with solar radiation measured at a site with a ‘clear sky-view’ to model solar radiation received at the stream surface as the sun moves across the image on each day of the year.

Solar radiation is the main driver of variability in stream temperature and is well-known to be reduced under forest canopies. Thus, planting bank-side vegetation presents a potential methodology to mitigate the effects of a changing climate on water temperature. I am producing predictive models of the effects of forestry on stream temperature under various climate change scenarios. Such information is needed urgently by environment managers in order to quantify the amount of forestry required to provide suitable habitats for thermally sensitive species."

Grace Garner is a Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.