Kerryn Little BSc (Hons), PhD

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Postdoctoral Researcher

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Kerryn Little is a postdoctoral researcher in PyroGeography. Her research focuses on the spatiotemporal controls on wildfire danger, with a view towards developing practical wildfire management tools. She is interested in using a combination of field-based experiments and modelling approaches to understand fuel moisture dynamics, wildfire behaviour, fire weather, and large-scale atmospheric circulation dynamics.

Qualifications

  • PhD Geography, University of Birmingham 2024
  • MSc Geography, University of Otago 2018
  • BSc Geography, University of Otago 2015

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Little, K, Castellanos-Acuna, D, Flannigan, M, Graham, LJ, Jain, P, Kettridge, N, Neal, R, Pope, JO & Ivison, K 2026, 'Relationships between synoptic weather patterns, surface fire weather and vegetation fire in a temperate region', International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 35, no. 1, WF25158. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF25158

Belcher, CM, Vitali, R, Nikonovas, T, Little, K, Elliott, A, Baker, SJ, Crawford, AJ, Doerr, SH, Kettridge, N & Clay, GD 2025, 'A flammability phenology for dry mixed heaths and its implications for modelling fire behaviour', International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 34, no. 8, WF24123. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF24123

Little, K, Castellanos-Acuna, D, Kettridge, N, Flannigan, M & Jain, P 2025, 'Extreme blocking ridges are associated with vegetation fire occurrence in England', International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 34, no. 8, WF25083. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF25083

Little, K, Castellanos-Acuna, D, Jain, P, Graham, L, Kettridge, N & Flannigan, M 2025, 'Persistent positive anomalies in geopotential heights drive enhanced wildfire activity across Europe', Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, vol. 380, no. 1924, 20230455. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0455

Little, K, Vitali, R, Belcher, CM, Kettridge, N, Pellegrini, AFA, Ford, AES, Smith, AMS, Elliott, A, Voulgarakis, A, Stoof, CR, Kolden, CA, Schwilk, DW, Kennedy, EB, Newman Thacker, FE, Millin-Chalabi, GR, Clay, GD, Morison, JI, McCarty, JL, Ivison, K, Tansey, K, Simpson, KJ, Jones, MW, Mack, MC, Fulé, PZ, Gazzard, R, Harrison, SP, New, S, Page, SE, Hall, TE, Brown, T, Jolly, WM & Doerr, S 2025, 'Priority research directions for wildfire science: views from a historically fire-prone and an emerging fire-prone country', Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, vol. 380, no. 1924, 20240001. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0001

Ivison, K, Little, K, Orpin, A, Belcher, CM, Clay, GD, Doerr, SH, Smith, TEL, Andersen, R, Graham, LJ & Kettridge, N 2025, 'Unprecedented UK heatwave harmonised drivers of fuel moisture creating extreme temperate wildfire risk', Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 6, no. 1, 727. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02746-8

Ivison, K, Little, K, Orpin, A, Lewis, CHM, Dyer, N, Keyzor, L, Everett, L, Stoll, E, Andersen, R, Graham, LJ & Kettridge, N 2024, 'A national-scale sampled temperate fuel moisture database', Scientific Data, vol. 11, 973. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03832-w

Little, K, Kettridge, N, Belcher, CM, Graham, LJ, Stoof, CR, Ivison, K & Cardil, A 2024, 'Cross-landscape fuel moisture differences impact simulated fire behaviour', International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 33, no. 9, WF24019 . https://doi.org/10.1071/WF24019

Lewis, CHM, Little, K, Graham, LJ, Kettridge, N & Ivison, K 2024, 'Diurnal fuel moisture content variations of live and dead Calluna vegetation in a temperate peatland', Scientific Reports, vol. 14, no. 1, 4815. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55322-z

Little, K, Graham, LJ, Flannigan, M, Belcher, CM & Kettridge, N 2024, 'Landscape controls on fuel moisture variability in fire-prone heathland and peatland landscapes', Fire Ecology, vol. 20, no. 1, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-024-00248-0

Little, K, Graham, LJ & Kettridge, N 2023, 'Accounting for among-sampler variability improves confidence in fuel moisture content field measurements', International Journal of Wildland Fire, vol. 33, no. 1, WF23078. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23078

Pandey, P, Huidobro, G, Lopes, LF, Ganteaume, A, Ascoli, D, Colaco, C, Xanthopoulos, G, Giannaropoulos, T, Gazzard, R, Boustras, G, Steelman, T, Charlton, V, Ferguson, E, Kirschner, J, Little, K, Stoof, C, Nikolakis, W, Fernández-Blanco, CR, Ribotta, C, Lambrechts, H, Fernandez, M & Dossi, S 2023, 'A global outlook on increasing wildfire risk: current policy situation and future pathways', Trees, Forests and People, vol. 14, 100431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2023.100431

Little, K, Kingston, D, Cullen, N & Gibson, P 2019, 'The role of atmospheric rivers for extreme ablation and snowfall events in the Southern Alps of New Zealand', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 46, no. 5. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081669

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