We are a multi-disciplinary group with core interests in monitoring, modelling and managing hydrological and ecological systems. Our research spans three main themes: geomorphological processes that shape fluvial and terrestrial environments; ecological and hydrological processes involved in the maintenance and functioning of healthy ecosystems; hydroclimatic modelling and water management under climate variability and change. Our research methods involve field data collection, laboratory-based experimentation, and numerical modelling. Scales of analysis range from individual diatom cells and pollen grains, to ecological patches, whole river systems, even up to regional climate change impacts on national water planning. Timescales of investigation span from Quaternary environmental change, through to contemporary landscape degradation and extreme events, through to strategic water and flood risk management to the end of the 21st century.

Much of our applied research is commissioned by industrial, governmental, and non-governmental partners. These organisations are typically responsible for the sustainable management of natural resources in the face of growing human pressures. Recent sponsors include the British Ecological Society, Defra, the Environment Agency, Natural England, and water utilities. Our work on sediment and water management in arid lands has been supported by a range of donor organisations and agencies including the UK Government Department for International Development, the US Water Research Foundation, the World Bank, and WWF.

The Centre for Hydrological and Ecosystem Science also hosts a number of post-graduate students who play an important role in our research programme. Current research topics include:

• Assessing the sensitivity of domestic water demand to climate change (EPSRC studentship);

• Evaluating the performance of flood defence systems under changed climate conditions (university studentship);

• The response of aquatic ecology to increasing saltwater penetration associated with climate variability and sea level change (university studentship);

• Examining the influence of hydromorphology on instream ecology (joint Environment Agency/ Centre for Ecology and Hydrology studentship);

• The impact of disturbance of fine material within sediment patches by signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) using field and flume studies (university studentship).