I am a research fellow and activity lead for the UK’s National Centre for Earth Observations (NCEO), based in the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh. I hold a BSc in Biology and MRes in Ecology and Environmental Management from the University of York, UK, and a PhD in Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences from the University of Edinburgh, UK. I have a long-term interest in understanding how ecosystems function and interact (inc. feedbacks) with their environment.

Research

I am fascinated by how ecosystems function. I have spent more than 10 years studying terrestrial ecosystems, developing the skills and research tools needed to quantify ecosystem status and to begin disentangling the sensitivity of ecosystem processes to climate, land management and other disturbances. Terrestrial ecosystems play a central role in global biogeochemical and biogeophysical cycles, impacting weather, climate and a wide range of ecosystem services vital to sustaining our civilisation. But our knowledge is incomplete, containing large uncertainties and missing / poorly defined theoretical understanding of how ecosystems function. As a result, making meaningful predictions of ecosystem function and response, required to support sustainable decision making is diminished. It is my aim to address these knowledge gaps by challenging ecological theory encapsulated in simulation models with observations spanning field level to global scale Earth Observation (EO) within rigorous statistical frameworks. My research focuses on improving our understanding of how terrestrial ecosystem carbon (C) and water (H2O) cycles function and are likely to respond a changing climate and disturbance (e.g. fire, deforestation) (e.g. Smallman et al., 2021). This information is essential to support sustainable decision making from policy-level through to individual land managers. My main research tool is the creation of simulation models of terrestrial ecosystems (the DALEC suite of models) which encapsulate ecological theory (Smallman et al., 2017; Smallman & Williams 2019; Famiglietti et al., 2021) and combine them with observations using a Bayesian model-data fusion framework which I co-created, known as CARDAMOM. CARDAMOM provides location specific estimates of ecosystem C and H2O cycling. CARDAMOM’s unique probabilistic analyses allow us to determine precisely the most uncertain components of terrestrial ecosystems and the information content held within observations (Smallman et al., 2017; Exbrayat et al., 2018; Famiglietti et al., 2021; Smallman et al., 2021).

Teaching

I am dedicated to providing authentic learning experiences for students. I believe that students should be taught using data, techniques and tools which are as close to real-world as possible to enhance the student experience, skills development and ultimately their employability. This concept is central to my teaching philosophy. I hold an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education College and I am currently undertaking the Fellowship of the Higher Education College

Over the last 13 years I have contributed learning experiences to both undergraduate (UG), taught postgraduate (PGT) and research students (SCQF levels 8-11) primarily at the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh. My contributions have included demonstrating, tutoring and marking class work but has progressively expanded to cover course design, lecturing, computer and lab practical sessions, assessment design, marking and moderation.