Cat Scott

If you fancy a bit of non-native tree removal, tree & wildflower planting, or tree tube removal use the link below to book onto a day. Or get in touch for more info: j.h.hodgson@leeds.ac.uk

@naturalengland.bsky.social @earthandenvleeds.bsky.social

bag.leeds.ac.uk/projects/res...

Decorative LEAF Day 2026 logo

This week we're excitedly preparing for LEAF Day 2026 - our one day annual meeting for folks interested in trees and woodlands!

If you're based at the Uni of Leeds, are free on Friday, and that sounds like you, then check out the programme and register at leaf.leeds.ac.uk/events/leaf-...

A new study from @ellesmith.bsky.social highlights consistently low levels of access to trees and greenspaces across English cities. Read more about it here: leaf.leeds.ac.uk/news/english... .🌐🌍🧪

@lemonyue.bsky.social also found that changes in global biomass burning emissions have partially offset the regional warming arising from anthropogenic aerosol reductions during this time 🔥

@lemonyue.bsky.social found that the reduction in SO2 emissions from China contributed a global radiative effect equal in magnitude to that from SO2 emission changes from the entire rest of the world over this period! ⚖️

Very pleased to share the first paper from @lemonyue.bsky.social's PhD project! Yue used #UKESM to explore the climate impact of recent aerosol emission reductions in #China 🏭💻🌏

Volunteers in wet weather gear, planting seedlings under a vivid rainbow

This #NationalTreeWeek we're celebrating all the research and practical conservation and restoration work that's done across our group. For example, a massive thankyou to our regular Friends of #GairWood group for their hard work planting a new hedge at our research woodland over the weekend!

Seedling growing in the forest

University of Birmingham, UK, are advertising a permanant position (Assistant or Associate Professor) in *Forests under Global Change*. A wide net has been cast - ecology, physiology, modelling, remote sensing, functioning, biodiversity, management... 🌲🌱🌳🌳🦌🌳🛰️🐿️🌲🔬🌳
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...

Applications now open! 💻

🎄Is your #Christmas tree talking to you - and if it was, would you want to know?!

Translating the bio-signs of your festive fir, ecologist @canopyrobin.com brings a Quantum Qristmas to #Farsley @oldwoollen.bsky.social!

2nd Dec, tickets at tinyurl.com/ye5dwtm5 🧠 Bring your brain & pull up a pint! 🍻

🌍 New Toolkit Alert!
 Tropical #deforestation is heating up local climates - with serious risks for #health, agriculture, and climate resilience 🌳🌡️
🔗 cemac.github.io/deforest-web/map.html
@envleeds.bsky.social @priestleycentre.bsky.social @metoffice.gov.uk @domspracklen.bsky.social

Ahead of COP30, online map shows deforestation is linked to tropical temperature rises - Priestley Centre for Climate Futures Deforestation is leading to temperature increases of up to 5°C in some tropical regions, according to data revealed in a new interactive map created by researchers at the University of Leeds. The onli...

Deforestation is leading to temperature increases of up to 5°C in some tropical regions, according to data revealed in a new interactive map
Released just before #COP30, the map uses the work of Priestley members @drcarlyreddington.bsky.social & Dominick Spracklen
climate.leeds.ac.uk/news/ahead-o...

Developing Climate-Resilient Woodlands in the UK: Insights from Gair Wood - Yorkshire Environmental Sciences • Doctoral Training Network The concurrent climate and biodiversity crises have driven global, national and regional targets to restore landscapes and create woodlands. In England, Defra’s Environmental Improvement Plan commits ...

Using #GairWood as a living laboratory, this PhD project will shed light on the above questions - follow the link for more information and to find out how to apply:

yes-dtn.ac.uk/research/dev...

Applications open 17th Nov 2025, closing date 7th Jan 2026. 💻

Including, how do these tree mixtures affect:
- the initial survival and growth of the trees 📏
- the greenhouse gas balance of the trees and their surrounding soil 📊
- the microclimate they create 🌡️
- how the microbial community in the soil changes as the trees establish 🦠

Where trees are directly planted, diverse species mixtures are increasingly being used to maximise resilience of the overall woodland to pests, diseases and climate change - but there's lots of detail that we don't yet fully understand.

The climate and biodiversity crises have driven global, national and regional targets to restore landscapes and create woodlands 🌳 In the UK, new woodlands are being established in a range of ways from direct planting through to approaches that allow trees to regenerate naturally 🌱

📢 PhD opportunity! 📢 Join me, @ejduncan.bsky.social, Tom Sloan + the wider #GairWood team to investigate climate-resilient woodlands in the UK 🌳 with @yes-dtn.bsky.social @earthandenvleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

Fancy doing a PhTree?

Here's a thread of some fantastic PhD opportunities advertising right now to research trees and forests! 🧵🌍🌐🧪🌳

New study from @treeswithhazel.bsky.social! Increasing UK woodland area from 13% to 19% will likely increase biogenic emissions but by avoiding exclusive planting of the very highest emitters, we can ensure that new woodlands deliver for climate + nature, whilst minimising impacts on air quality ⬇️

FACTCHECK: What the Climate Change Act actually means for the UK – and what is a load of old nonsense

Really enjoyed putting this together with colleagues, inc learning new things about the fascinating backstory to the Act

Feat. OG authors of the Act & more

www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-wh...

Future forests: estimating biogenic emissions from net-zero aligned afforestation pathways in the UK Abstract. Woodlands sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which could help mitigate climate change. As part of efforts to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050, the UK's Cli...

I’m really excited to say the first paper of my PhD has been published in Biogeociences today!

The paper examines the impact of net-zero aligned afforestation in the UK on biogenic emissions. 🌳 bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...

More deforestation leads to a drier dry season, Amazon study finds In Brazil’s southern Amazonian region, where the notorious “arc of deforestation” has been expanding since the 1970s, forest loss is reshaping the region’s atmospheric water cycle. As the Amazon Rainf...

The Amazon forest plays a critical role in the water cycle. A new study shows recent deforestation has caused reduced dry season rainfall across the southern Amazon. New story from @mongabay.com

news.mongabay.com/2025/09/more...

It was an honour to be at the launch of the Ingleborough NNR into the King's Series of NNRs earlier this month - check out the blog below for more on what the #WildIngleborough partnership has achieved since forming in 2021 🌳🦋🐦

Ingleborough just got wilder! 🌿 Now the size of 2.2 billion Yorkshire Tea bags—brewing a brighter future for nature!

www.gov.uk/government/news/yorkshires-natural-beauty-recognised-as-ingleborough-nnr-expands

#WildIngleborough #NNR

Ingleborough National Nature Reserve to be extended The extension will offer greater protection to the rare species found in the Dales upland landscape.

Ingleborough National Nature Reserve expanded - great news for the UK's best limestone habitats and wildlife. Research and monitoring by
@universityofleeds.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Why deforestation is causing heat deaths to soar Forest loss in tropical regions is causing temperatures to rise, with serious health impacts for indigenous communities

Dr Carly Reddington and Professor Dominick Spracklen (both Earth and Environment) co-authored a study showing that deforestation-induced heat has caused over 500,000 deaths in the tropics over the past 20 years.

Deforestation in a SE Asian tropical forest. Photo credit: Carly Reddington

🌍 Our new study in @natclimate.nature.com shows tropical #deforestation may cause ~28,000 heat-related deaths/year.
🌳🌡️💻🛰️ Using satellite data & mortality models we quantified the impact of deforestation-driven local warming on human health in the tropics.

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
🔗 rdcu.be/eEUbI

Tropical deforestation is associated with considerable heat-related mortality - Nature Climate Change The authors assess the impacts of tropical deforestation and its subsequent local warming on human heat-related mortality. They estimate that deforestation-related warming (+0.27 °C) is associated wit...

New study led by @drcarlyreddington.bsky.social tracks climate heating and human health impacts of tropical deforestation @universityofleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deforestation has killed half a million people in past 20 years, study finds Localised rises in temperature caused by land clearance cause 28,330 heat-related deaths a year, researchers find

Tropical deforestation is a major public health issue. New study led by @drcarlyreddington.bsky.social, story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...