PhD Opportunity - Reducing Flood Peaks with Trees

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Reducing Flood Peaks with Trees and Other Nature-Based Methods Across the English Catchment with the Largest Recorded Flood Discharge

The aim of the project is to deliver scientific evidence of the benefits of trees and other measures of 'natural flood management' to flood peak reductions for Lancaster city through a combination of innovative field measurements and a range of modelling techniques.

In December 2015 the flood discharge in the River Lune was the largest ever recorded for an English river resulting in severe flooding in Lancaster city and loss of power for thousands of residents. Floods in this period renewed the nation's interest in using 'natural measures' to help mitigate floods. The necessary wide-scale implementation of these measures is, however, hampered by the lack of credible scientific studies to quantify the magnitude of the hydrological benefits. This PhD project develops techniques to simulate floods, and quantify hydrological change across a range of scales from individual features to large rivers. In developing and applying these methods to the Lune catchment, the candidate will collect and simulate some of the best data on the benefits of 'natural flood management' in the UK. The goal is to translate this science into practice and disseminate findings through the media.

The successful applicant will hold a first class, upper second or masters degree in Geography, Environmental Science, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Soil Science, Forestry or a related discipline.

Application deadline: August 11th 2017

Start date: September 2017

For more information click here.

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