Prof Roxane Andersen

Environmental Research Institute
Castle Street  
Thurso
KW147JD

roxane.andersen@uhi.ac.uk
tel: +44 (0)1847 889572

Available to talk to the media about

  • Peatland ecology and biogeochemistry
  • Restoration and landscape ecology
  • Numerical ecology

Public lecture

Watch 

In these languages

English, French, Spanish

Biography

I completed a PhD in plant sciences in 2009 at Laval University in Canada before moving between Scotland and Canada for a post-doctoral research working on large-scale peatland restoration and small-scale biogeochemical processes. I started at the Environmental Research Institute in 2012 as a peatland scientist where I now lead the carbon, water and climate theme. As part of my role, I coordinate the Flow Country Research Hub and lead a diverse programme of research on peatlands, restoration and climate change. I also chair Scotland's National Peatland Research and Monitoring Group and I am actively involved in the Flow Country World Heritage Site Working Group.

Current research

Supported by Leverhulme Leadership Award and NERC, my research focuses on understanding peatland resilience in the face of land use and climate change at a range of scales. I am also involved in the development of novel remote-sensing tools for the monitoring of peatland condition and restoration outcomes through NERC funded projects and partnerships with the University of Nottingham, Forest and Land Scotland and Scotland's Peatland ACTION programme.

Research groups and interests

I coordinate the Flow Country Research Hub, the network of stakeholders and researchers interested in peatlands in the north of Scotland. I am an active member of the Society for Ecological Restoration, the Global Peatland Initiative, the International Peatland Society and a member of the British Ecological Society and the European Geoscience Union.

Selected publications

Gaffney, P.P.J, Hancock, M.H., Taggart, M.A., Andersen, R., (2020) Restoration of afforested peatland: immediate effects on aquatic carbon loss. Science of the Total Environment 140594.

Alshammari, L., Boyd, D.S., Sowter, A., Marshall, C., Andersen, R., Gilbert, P., Marsh, S., Large, D.J. (2020) Use of surface motion characteristics determined by InSAR to assess peatland condition. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 125, e2018JG004953.

Andersen, R, Farrell, C, Graf, M, Muller, F, Calvar, E, Frankard, P, Caporn, S, Anderson, P (2017) An overview of the progress and challenges of peatland restoration in Western Europe. Restoration Ecology 25:271-282.

Payne, R.J., Creevy, A., Malysheva, E., Ratcliffe, J., Andersen, R., Tsyganov, A.N., Rowson, J.G., Marcisz, K., Zieli艅ska, M., Lamentowicz, M., Lapshina, E.D., & Mazei, Y. (2016) Tree encroachment may lead to functionally-significant changes in peatland testate amoeba communities. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 98, 18-21.

Andersen, R, Chapman, SJ, & Artz, RRE. (2013) Microbial diversity in natural and disturbed peatlands: a review. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 57, 979-994.