Supervisory Team:
Dr Sandhya Patidar – Heriot-Watt University
Dr Cedric Laize – UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Dr Michael Hutchins – UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Dr Rob Collins – The Rivers Trust
Estuaries, essential for human well-being and socioeconomic development, are increasingly threatened by climate change, pollution, habitat loss, over-abstraction, and invasive species. These stressors often interact, creating complex and unpredictable impacts on estuarine health. While individual stressor effects are well studied, understanding their combined impacts is crucial for effective management. This PhD project addresses this gap using a holistic approach that integrates data science (Dr Sandhya Patidar, HWU), hydro-ecological modelling (Dr Cedric Laize, UKCEH), and water quality modelling (Dr Michael Hutchins, UKCEH), with collaboration from partners Dr Rob Collins (The Rivers Trust) and stakeholders at SEPA and RSPB.
The student will gain expertise in interdisciplinary research, combining data science (statistical, time-series, machine learning), hydro-ecology, and water quality modelling, with a focus on climate change and environmental impact assessment. They will develop programming skills in R or Python to process diverse hydro-ecological, water quality, climate, and flow datasets. By integrating data science with physics/process-based models, they will study multi-stressor impacts. The student will also enhance critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills, while collaborating with partner, stakeholders and professionals from various fields. They will have opportunities to present work through seminars, publications, and media outreach.
This project is novel in its holistic approach to understanding how multiple stressors interact to impact estuarine resilience. Unlike previous studies that focus on individual factors, it combines data science and physics/process-based modelling to analyse complex interplay of various stressors using diverse dataset. The innovative tools will assess estuarine dynamics, identify long-term trends and short-term fluctuations, and conduct scenario-based impact analysis. Collaborating with partners and stakeholders, students will create scenarios for risk mitigation and management strategies, which will be evaluated using the diagnostic tool. The project’s outcomes will provide critical insights to support sustainable decision-making for estuarine conservation.
Estuaries are under siege from multiple stressors, pollution, including habitat degradation, and climate change, with stressors often interacting in unpredictable ways. Our limited understanding of these cumulative impacts makes it challenging to develop effective risk mitigation strategies. To address this, the project will advance data modelling to better understand estuarine responses to stressors and create predictive models for impact assessment. These models will inform evidence-based risk mitigation and management strategies for estuarine protection and restoration. Engaging policymakers, environmental managers, and coastal communities is crucial, though aligning research with their needs presents a challenge that the project is designed to overcome.
Essential Skills: Data analysis, Modelling, Communication skills across a broad range of stakeholders
