Professor Mark Inall

SAGES Director

Professor Inall is a member of the Research and Innovation Committee in his role as SAGES Director.

Professor Inall is Associate Director and Principal Investigator in Physical Oceanography at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

Professor Inall gained his BSc in Physics from the University of Edinburgh, and gained his MSc and PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of Southampton. He has undertaken research activities at Universities of Cambridge, Bangor and Victoria (BC).

Since 1998 he has led a marine physics research group at SAMS, with more recent responsibility for directing the Institute’s research portfolio. He co-developed Scotland’s first Marine Science BSc for the University of the Highlands and Islands. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and is Honorary Professor in the College of Science & Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Emrys Phillips

Landscape Form, Use & Change Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation Committe member

I currently hold and Individual Merit Promotion (Band 3) Research Scientist post at the British Geological Survey (BGS) office in Edinburgh with over 28 years’ experience in the field of macro and micro scale analysis of deformed geological materials, working on a variety of projects throughout the UK landmass, Iceland, Poland, Germany, North America (Canada), Africa (Botswana) and the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia). In the past 15 years I have specialised in the study of deformed glacial sediments, the control of sub glacial to pro glacial deformation on glacier dynamics, and the reconstruction of past ice sheet margins.

Dr Rebecca Wade

Landscape Form, Use & Change Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation Committee member

My background is physical geography but I teach collaboratively with civil engineers and environmental and social scientists. I work in interdisciplinary teams on research projects that contribute to our understanding of human interactions with nature, and natures’ interaction with the built environment in both urban and rural settings. I have extensive experience of working with the public and with stakeholders in relation to decision-making for multi-functional/multi-benefit use urban green space and rural environments.
My major research interests at Abertay University include: Urban Ecosystem Services, Geomorphological and ecological effects of stream and river channel restoration; Blue and green infrastructure, urban drainage, SuDS and urban watercourses; Ecosystem-based Management; and Cultural/Societal interactions with nature.

Dr Philippa Ascough

Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation committee member

Dr. Philippa Ascough is Head of the NERC Radiocarbon Facility for the Environment, which is hosted at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. The Facility applies radiocarbon to virtually all environmental matrices, not only as a dating tool, but as an ultra-sensitive means to interrogate stocks, fluxes, and processes in the global carbon cycle.
Philippa’s research focusses on how global environmental processes release carbon from the terrestrial environment. She is interested in the stability versus alteration of different molecular forms of carbon in the environment, particularly pyrogenic (fire-affected) carbon, and investigates the impact of fire on carbon cycling. She uses radiocarbon tracers to understand how organic matter degrades, particularly in the soil system, and a wide range of isotopic and spectroscopic techniques to interrogate short and long term carbon cycling.

Dr Ehsan Jorat

Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation committee member

Dr Jorat is currently working as a lecturer in geotechnical engineering in the Division of Natural and Built Environment in the School of Science, Engineering and Technology, Abertay University. He is a geotechnical coordinator for the Sustainable Urban Carbon Capture: Engineering Soils for Climate Change (SUCCESS) project. His role involves designing and implementing field experiments to monitor geotechnical properties of substrates during the carbonation process, assess the impact of soil carbonation on flood risk and determine a validation process for measuring the carbonation process. His current research aims to specify a practical design for soils used in engineering, restoration and construction works that maximises sequestration of atmospheric CO2 (inorganically) through natural soil processes, including the use of ‘Carbon Capture Gardens’.

Dr Finlo Cottier

Atmosphere, Oceans and Climate Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation committee member

Finlo is a Senior Lecturer in Polar Oceanography at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) and holds an Adjunct Professorship at UiT, The Arctic University, Tromsø in the Department of Arctic Biology. His main scientific interests relate to the oceans and seas of the Arctic and Antarctic, particularly the shallow, coastal seas and the fjords of the Arctic. He also works within the Scottish Marine Robotics Facility based at SAMS. He completed a PhD in sea ice physics at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge and holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Manchester.

Dr Sian Henley

Atmosphere, Oceans and Climate Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation committee member

I am a marine biogeochemist and NERC Independent Research Fellow in the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh. My research focus is nutrient cycling in the polar oceans and its role in and response to physical climate change. My Fellowship focuses on biogeochemical changes in the west Antarctic Peninsula region, and I also have research projects focusing on different aspects of the Arctic system in the context of warming and sea ice decline.

Dr Daniel Gilmour

Transformations in Society and Environmental Policy Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation committee member

Dr Daniel Gilmour is a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager and Senior Lecturer at Abertay University. His research focuses on the enhancement of sustainability in the natural and built environment with interests in the fields of sustainability assessment, decision support and public participation in decision making, in particular sustainable service provision. He has significant research experience, working on a range of projects with Scottish Government, local government and business to support inclusive decision-making. His research influences local government organisations, the public, water companies and their regulators through the application of an integrated framework for the assessment of sustainability and the communication of the complex data required in this assessment to a wide range of stakeholders. His research has resulted in changes to public policy and services, raised the awareness and understanding of key stakeholders with a resulting increase in the ability of the stakeholders to make more informed decisions.

Dr Massimo Bollasina

Centre for Earth System Dynamics Co Theme Leader and Research & Innovation committee member

Doctor of Science, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland College Park
Surface and Aerosol Effects on the South Asian Monsoon Hydroclimate
Doctor of Science, Department of Physics, University of Milan
Study of Transport, Dispersion, and Precipitation of Effluents from Cooling Towers

Dr Matteo Spagnolo

Centre for Earth Systems Dynamics Co theme Leader and Research & Innovation Committee member

I am an enthusiastic physical geographer with an interest in ice sheet bed forms and alpine landscapes. For the former, I work with theoretical and numerical modellers to understand how the bed of fast flowing ice evolves in response to the imposed stress and how this affects the dynamics of ice streaming toward the ocean. For the latter, I use formerly glaciated landscapes as an indication of palaeo climate conditions, which I then compare with existing past climate model outputs. My research, often focused on the spatial distribution of landforms at regional scales and the analysis of large datasets, is undertaken with state of the art GIS and remote sensing techniques.

Dr John Howe

SAGES Graduate School Convenor and Research & Innovation committee member

John Howe joined the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in 1998 moving to Oban from a post-doctoral research post with the British Antarctic Survey. He has a PhD from the University of Southampton in marine geology and a degree in Geology from Derby University. In his current role of Senior Lecturer in Marine Geology he has been head of the Biogeochemistry and Earth Sciences department, is currently Degree Program Leader and is supervisor for a number of research students. Currently he sits on the steering group of the Marie Curie International Training Network (ITN) Glaciated North Atlantic Margins (GLANAM) project and the NERC National Capability Marine Environmental Mapping Program (MAREMAP). His research focus is on marine geomorphology and habitat mapping, Quaternary ice sheet history, glaciomarine environments and the use of autonomous underwater vehicles in marine mapping. He has worked in the Arctic and Antarctic examining marine sediments as archives of long-term environmental change. He has 91 published outputs from peer-reviewed science papers to magazine articles and book chapters. Current projects include the use of AUV’s in the Arctic and in the Patagonian fjord region of Chile. He is a keen sub-aqua diver, and is a scientific diver with the National Facility for Scientific Diving at SAMS as well as helping to run the student diving club.

Katherine Maxwell

SAGES Innovation Manager and Research & Innovation committee member

Katherine is currently acting manager of ECCI’s innovation team, helping to oversee the delivery of a range of projects. These include our Climate-KIC business support programme and is the innovation manager for SAGES network of Scottish universities at the forefront of geosciences research.