Joseph Holden
@prof-joseph-holden.bsky.social
Chair of Physical Geography, University of Leeds. Director of water@leeds. Director of NERC UK freshwater quality research programme. Peatlands, hydrology, carbon cycling, soil carbon, land management, flooding, agriculture & water, forest cover change .. more
Chair of Physical Geography, University of Leeds. Director of water@leeds. Director of NERC UK freshwater quality research programme. Peatlands, hydrology, carbon cycling, soil carbon, land management, flooding, agriculture & water, forest cover change
Joseph Holden is a British physical geographer who specialises in hydrological research, geomorphology and land management. He is Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Leeds. .. more
Environmental science
62%
Geography
17%
Large-scale export of aquatic carbon from peatlands - Yorkshire Environmental Sciences • Doctoral Training Network
Peatlands are wetland environments in which saturated, anoxic soil conditions cause carbon-rich plant detritus – peat – to accumulate over thousands of years. Peatlands are thought to store approximat...
yes-dtn.ac.uk
New funded PhD opportunity on large-scale export of aquatic carbon from peatlands: yes-dtn.ac.uk/research/lar...
Join an amazing group of peatland researchers at the University of Leeds. Project supervised by me, Paul Morris, Jiren Xu (Glasgow), Taylor Maavara (Cary).
Deadline 7 January 2026
Join an amazing group of peatland researchers at the University of Leeds. Project supervised by me, Paul Morris, Jiren Xu (Glasgow), Taylor Maavara (Cary).
Deadline 7 January 2026
New fully-funded PhD project working on flooding, climate change, catastrophe modelling and the re-insurance industry: unrisk-cdt.ac.uk/projects/cli... Work with @floodre.bsky.social Erica Thompson and I.
Alley width and slope position influence soil carbon storage, nutrient dynamics and hydrology at a mature silvoarable site, SW England
Optimising benefits from agroforestry requires better understanding of spatial factors such as alley width and slope position. We sampled soil (0–50 c…
www.sciencedirect.com
Our new free to access paper from Josiah Judson's PhD showing how alley width and slope position of agroforestry trees in the UK influence soil functioning www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @pippachapmn.bsky.social @researchleeds.bsky.social @envleeds.bsky.social
A Coupled Hydrological‐Hydrodynamic Modelling Approach for Assessing the Impacts of Multiple Natural Flood Management Interventions on Downstream Flooding
While natural flood management (NFM) as a flood mitigation strategy is becoming widely used, there remains a lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of different NFM scenarios under high flow ev...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Third paper from Qiuyu Zhu's PhD now out. Qiuyu coupled Spatially Distributed TOPMODEL to a hydrodynamic model to see how different NFM techniques interact. This allows us to study flood effects at larger catchment scales. Free access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Sponge Analogy Problem: Moving Towards Clearer Communication of Peatland Hydrological Processes
Correctly communicating peatland hydrology.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
We shouldn't say peatlands act as sponges...but they can slow flow and dampen droughts. Our new paper led by Kirsten Lees onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
@peatofmind.bsky.social @peatymike.bsky.social @em-shuttleworth.bsky.social @andybairdj.bsky.social @researchleeds.bsky.social
@peatofmind.bsky.social @peatymike.bsky.social @em-shuttleworth.bsky.social @andybairdj.bsky.social @researchleeds.bsky.social
A solutions-focussed operational model to connect catchment water research to environmental resilience
Nature Water - A transferable and operational model involving cross-sector collaborations, transdisciplinary project co-design and translation of cutting-edge research, has unlocked integrated...
rdcu.be
Read our article published in Nature Water about what has made our Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme @yorkshireicasp.bsky.social such a success. Free access here: rdcu.be/eHWAM @springernature.com @researchleeds.bsky.social @envleeds.bsky.social
Fab work by our PhD student Resti Salmayenti who has published her first thesis paper in Environmental Research Letters showing how drainage and land cover interact to affect fire occurrence in Indonesian peatlands. Our paper is open access here: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Recent Forest Loss in the Brazilian Amazon Causes Substantial Reductions in Dry Season Precipitation
Recent forest loss (3.2%) in the Brazilian Amazon causes a mean 5.4% reduction in dry season precipitation 76.9% of reduced precipitation is due to decreased nonlocal water vapor, not local evapo...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Great work by our PhD student Yu Liu who has shown in AGU Advances that recent forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon causes substantial reductions in dry season precipitation. Open access here: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Wetland fragmentation is strongly associated with high population densities. African wetlands store an estimated 54 ± 11 Gt of carbon (surpassing Europe’s 12–31 Gt). If drained, they could release 260 MtC / yr, nearly ten times the carbon sequestration of pristine wetlands (27 MtC /yr).
Wetland fragmentation associated with large populations across Africa - Nature Communications
This study presents a map of wetland extent for the whole of Africa at 10 m resolution. A strong link was found between broken up wetlands and human population density. Such fragmented wetlands could ...
www.nature.com
Our paper in Nature Communications presents a new 10 metre resolution map of wetlands across Africa. The work was done through Sani Garba's PhD study and provides an excellent basis for future analysis and conservation. The paper is open access www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Female zebrafish are more affected than males under polystyrene microplastics exposure
Microplastics are ubiquitous in freshwater and can be absorbed into fish skin and gills, accumulate in the gut, and be transported to other tissues, t…
www.sciencedirect.com
New paper published from my PhD student Di Wu showing that polystyrene microplastic pollution adversely impacts female zebrafish more than males www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @carterlj.bsky.social Free version here if you have a paywall: eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/220647/
A Quantitative Review of Natural Flood Management Research
A quantitative review of themes covered by previous studies on natural flood management and nature-based solutions including an assessment of the impact of natural flood management on flood peaks by ....
wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Nice new open access paper from my PhD student Qiuyu Zhu on science of natural flood management over last 30 years showing good evidence for both continued investment in NFM and in research to optimise NFM actions wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Quantifying the role of land cover in ‘slowing the flow’ for flood risk reduction in a changing climate – Understanding Uncertainty to Reduce Climate Risks
unrisk-cdt.ac.uk
We welcome applications for this great project on flooding: unrisk-cdt.ac.uk/projects/qua... Deadline 13 January 2025.
Understanding Uncertainty to Reduce Climate Risks – NERC Centre for Doctoral Training
unrisk-cdt.ac.uk
Check out our new UK NERC-funded doctoral training centre in climate change uncertainty and risk - funded projects now available for applicants: unrisk-cdt.ac.uk Hosted by University of Leeds in collaboration with Exeter and UCL
The impact of a wind farm on carbon emissions from peat - Yorkshire Environmental Sciences • Doctoral Training Network
How do wind farms impact on carbon cycling in peatlands? Investigate carbon emissions in air and water from a recently constructed wind farm on Shetland.
yes-dtn.ac.uk
New fully funded PhD project available on peatland windfarms and carbon impacts from disturbance supervised by @catmoody.bsky.social and I yes-dtn.ac.uk/research/the... Deadline for applications = 8 January 2025
Job Opportunity at University of Leeds: Research Fellow in Peatland Monitoring Data
Research Fellow in Peatland Monitoring Data Salary: Grade 7 (£39,105 – £46,485 p.a. depending on experience) This role will be based on the university campus, with scope for it to be undertaken in a h...
jobs.leeds.ac.uk
A few hours left to apply for a peatland research fellow position with us: jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
Microbial and mineral interactions decouple litter quality from soil organic matter formation
Nature Communications - This study challenges the hypothesis that high-quality plant litters form stable, mineral-associated soil organic carbon most efficiently, providing evidence that...
rdcu.be
Our new paper out in Nature Communications led by Dafydd Elias sheds new light on how plant litter, microbes & soil minerals interact to develop mineral-associated soil organic carbon = crucial for long-term soil C storage rdcu.be/d0T4Q @natureportfolio.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social