UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

Our latest newsletter is out now! Top stories include:

🌾 First ever UK rice trials
📲 Mobile app uses lichen to measure nitrogen pollution
🌊 Fresh approach to tracking river pollution
📽️ UKCEH science in action with Deborah Meaden

Plus much more!

🧪 buff.ly/VxvIsZV

#EnvironmentalScience #UKCEH

Friday Fieldwork!

Back out on the bogs again this week, however this time it's for a different piece of work for @ukceh.bsky.social!

This time was going out to change over monitoring cameras - some work I'm looking forward to start helping with :)

🚨New #PhD #adverts alert🚨

I currently have two PhD studentships being advertised on environmental #AMR ⬇️

More being advertised soon 👀

@ukceh.bsky.social @ukceh-moleco.bsky.social

Two people attend to scientific equipment in a fenced area in the middle of a field

Register now for the National Environmental Monitoring conference! Help create the UK's environmental monitoring future through talks & interactive sessions.

Registration closes 11 Nov - don’t miss out!

https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/national-environment-monitoring-conference-3/

A COSMOS-UK soil moisture monitoring station fenced off in a field

🌌 Data from the COSMOS-UK network have a variety of applications including farming, water resources, flood forecasting and land-surface modelling.

Learn more: cosmos.ceh.ac.uk

Farming Today - 30/10/25: An uncomfortable transition? The buzz about Asian hornets. Cosmic ray neutrons and soil moisture - BBC Sounds The boss of one of the UK's biggest farming companies says a painful transition is ahead.

Despite recent rain, soils in many areas remain drier than normal for the time of year. UKCEH uses cosmic ray neutrons to monitor soil moisture to depths of 20–30 cm at @cosmosuk.bsky.social sites across the UK.

📻 Hear Jonathan Evans on BBC R4’s Farming Today: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

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How we’re supporting growth and development at UKCEH We arrange a number of training courses and awareness initiatives to support the professional growth of colleagues from across the organisation.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do 🌟

We're proud to support them through diverse growth and development opportunities.

Talent Manager Zoe Shorter shares how we’re building a culture of continuous learning at UKCEH: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...

#LearningAndDevelopment

YouTube video by Linnean Society A Quietening of the Woods | The Decline of Woodland Birds

A video is now available of the lecture I gave last week to the Linnean Society & British Ornithologists' Club in London, on woodland birds, Marsh Tits & Willow Tits (~45 mins): www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7HF... #ornithology #ukbirding @ukceh.bsky.social

Front cover of The IPBES thematic assessment report on interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health, summary for policymakers

All 7 chapters of the @ipbes.net #NexusAssessment report are available to download!

This report, co-chaired by UKCEH's Prof Paula Harrison and with contributions by 165 experts from 57 countries, explores interconnections among biodiversity, water, food &health

www.ipbes.net/nexus-assess... 🧪

Fiery hilly landscape burning and the text Submit your abstracts to our session Extreme Fires and their Impacts

📢 Call for Abstracts #EGU26

🔥 Session: Extreme Fires and Impacts (BG1.2/NH14.22)

We invite case studies on regional extreme wildfires, their impacts, & prevention or mitigation strategies worldwide. Contributions welcome from multiple disciplines!

meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU26/sessio...

Understanding how a threatened seabird moves across complex ocean energyscapes

Great PhD linking kittiwake tracking, energetics and changing oceans. Based @ukceh.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social collaborating with oceanographers at @unistrathclyde.bsky.social 🌊 Includes fieldwork, stats training and some very cool open-ended research questions. iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

YouTube video by JNCC TEPoP Autumn 2025: The importance of Prediction

🔮 How can monitoring data help predict the future of our environment?

Watch our #UKTEPoP Autumn Festival session with experts from JNCC, @ukceh.bsky.social and @btobirds.bsky.social on the power of prediction.

📺 youtu.be/KXY2-hdZ49M?...

#Conservation #Data #Prediction #TogetherForNature

Modelling vector control for Aedes-borne arboviruses

Are you interested in doing a PhD in modelling Aedes-borne disease control? We are offering a fully funded studentship at @ukceh.bsky.social , with @uofglasgow.bsky.social and ALTOPICTUS, via @iapetusdtp.bsky.social. Open to UK nationals and overseas students.

iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

Alongside integrating key datasets from across the UK, FDRI will deliver live data from monitoring equipment installed in three observatory catchments: the U... What is FDRI data and how can it be used to understand hydrological extremes?

Live data from the Upper Severn, Upper Tweed and Chess catchments will help tackle floods and droughts as part of #FDRI 💧

Simon Stanley from UKCEH explains what happens to FDRI data once it's captured in the field.

Check out our video!

Frozen Flora: 25 years of the Millennium Seed Bank Preserving and restoring rare and important plant species...

🌱 Studying seeds is vital for work on restoring lost species to semi-natural UK grasslands

UKCEH plant ecologist @wagnermarkus.bsky.social chats to the Naked Scientists for their podcast on 25 years of @rbgkew.bsky.social's Millennium Seed Bank #MSB25

www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/nak... 🧪

The role of ditches in the global carbon cycle: A critical & unrecognised player.

PhD on carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes in ditches. Supervised by @aquaticcarbon.bsky.social at Uni Glasgow with @peatymike.bsky.social, Amy Pickard (@ukceh.bsky.social ) and me.
Get in touch if interested and circulate to potential candidates!
🧪 #GreenhouseGases

share.google/lvswIyC9TYg5...

YouTube video by UKCEH FDRI: Large-sample hydrology data webinar

🎥 Our new webinar introduces UK-Flow15 and CAMELS-GB v2 and shares what’s next for FDRI data.

Watch here 👉 youtu.be/JMZYzlLA_h8

Thanks to all the partners and the community effort making these datasets possible 👏🏼

#FDRI #Hydrology #EnvironmentalScience

Creating woodland through natural processes: Current understanding and knowledge gaps in Great Britain

Great to contribute to this #OpenAccess paper published in Ecological Solutions & Evidence: doi.org/10.1002/2688... #rewilding #forests #trees #nature @ukceh.bsky.social

YouTube video by UKCEH FDRI: Large-sample hydrology data webinar

🎥 Our new webinar introduces UK-Flow15 and CAMELS-GB v2 and shares what’s next for FDRI data.

Watch here 👉 youtu.be/JMZYzlLA_h8

Thanks to all the partners and the community effort making these datasets possible 👏🏼

#FDRI #Hydrology #EnvironmentalScience

Map of UK with dots indicating river flow stations and colours indicating number of years data available in UK-Flow15

📣 Great news for UK hydrology!

The UK Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI) has announced release of two new datasets: UK-Flow15 and CAMELS-GB v2. They provide access to sub-daily river flow and hydrometeorological data across 100s of UK catchments

🔗 fdri.org.uk/news/new-hyd...

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The @ukceh.bsky.social Annual PGR Showcase has begun! Loads of amazing science from our talented PhD students.

Firefighting foam, plus the headline Researchers tackle growing threat of forever chemicals

We're leading a new project to improve understanding of 'forever chemicals', long-lasting manufactured compounds that can pose risks to ecosystems, wildlife & potentially human health.

This will support better assessments of their impacts on the environment.

🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

Thanks to Claire for sharing her thoughts on @elliewilsonuk.bsky.social's Moth x Human last Friday.

Audience feedback: bit.ly/4q8l3Re

@morethanadodo.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social

@artscouncilengland.bsky.social @prsfoundation.bsky.social @ppluk.bsky.social

I wrote a blog post about some recent fieldwork!
Read more below:

SMARTWATER

The work, by a team from UKCEH and @bgs.ac.uk is part of the SMARTWATER project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Learn more: smart-water.org.uk

2/2 #WaterQuality #rivers #pollution @ukri.org

Tracking river pollution: a novel approach to sampling River pollution is a major threat to water quality and ecosystems, and understanding pollution sources and how they mix is vital to creating effective pollution management. Alex O’Brien from UKCEH des...

Most river monitoring focuses on fixed points, missing how pollution moves downstream 🌊

UKCEH’s Alex O’Brien describes an approach combining multiple survey methods to reveal how pollutants mix and travel, which is key for better water quality management.

🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

Habitat dependence of tipping points in upland soils and implications for natural flood management at University of Southampton on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Habitat dependence of tipping points in upland soils and implications for natural flood management at University of Southampton, listed on FindAPhD.com

fully funded PhD project (UK fees only) available for modelling tipping points for natural flood management in collaboration with CEH #phd @engineering-soton.bsky.social #flooding #floods #modelling #mathematics
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

A butterfly on a flower and the text Up to 90% of flowering plants rely on pollinators

Global efforts are vital to halt and reverse pollinator declines.

In support of #IPI25, UKCEH joins partners and organisations worldwide in highlighting research and actions to safeguard pollinators for future generations.

www.cbd.int/internationa... #UNPollinators #KMGBF

Infographic with a hand holding a loudspeaker and an illustration of a bee and chat bubbles, plus the text Join the Buzz by spreading the word on the importance of conserving pollinators

🌍 25 years of the International Pollinators Initiative!

Pollinators underpin global biodiversity, food security & healthy ecosystems.

UKCEH advances research, citizen science & policy to help protect bees, butterflies, hoverflies & moths.

www.cbd.int/internationa... #IPI25 @pomscheme.bsky.social

Last Friday's Fieldwork!

First fieldwork of 2025 on the South Cumbrian peatlands!

Interesting to see Hannah's moth recording; atmospheric chemistry; and water table work - plus how we can use the data for long term environmental management

#fieldwork #scicomm #bogs #cumbria @ukceh.bsky.social