Cat Scott

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/...

Screenshot of form on the UK Met Office website. Text reads: "You can provide up to 5 storm names in the boxes below. Storm Name: [a user has filled this in with "BigOil"] Storm Name (optional): [filled in with BP] Storm Name (optional): [filled in with Equinor] Storm Name (optional): [filled in with Exxon] Storm Name (optional): [filled in with Shell]

So the UK Met Office is inviting people to suggest up to 5 names for storms.

And apparently lots of people have been suggesting "Storm Bigoil", along with BP, Equinor, Exxon & Shell...

This is obviously appalling & definitely not to be emulated via this link: www.metoffice.gov.uk/forms/name-o...

To sign up, or register to receive information about future related events, please fill in the form below and we'll be in touch with more information: tinyurl.com/woodestablishment

The workshop will include a site tour of Gair Wood leaf.leeds.ac.uk/gairwood/, some short talks from speakers giving an overview of woodland creation and the challenges to establishment in the region, and a discussion session to identify future challenges and priorities.

The session on 14th July is open to anyone with a professional interest in woodland creation in the north of England - with a particular focus on stakeholders and forest practitioners in the @whiteroseforest.bsky.social area (West and North Yorkshire).

To kick this off @leedsleaf.bsky.social + @whiteroseforest.bsky.social are hosting a free workshop on 14th July at #GairWood in Leeds to discuss progress with, and challenges to, successful woodland establishment: tinyurl.com/woodestablishment

Newly planted trees face many challenges including drought 🌡️, browsing by wild animals 🦌, competing vegetation 🌿, and vandalism 🚓. We're hoping to initiate a network to share strategies, outcomes, and best practice across our region.