Meet the Feldpausch Research Group. Our research group investigates the dynamics of forests and savannas and their response to environmental changes like drought, fire, land-use, and climate change. We work primarily in the Amazon and African tropics, combining extensive fieldwork with remote sensing and ecosystem modelling. Below are our current researchers, alumni, and research talks.
Dr Wanderlei Bieluczyk – Soil carbon isotopes and pyrogenic carbon in Amazonia
Dr João Pompeu – Soil pyrogenic carbon, forest structure and dynamics in Amazonia
Dr Oscar Kennedy-Blundell – Modelling soil carbon and black carbon in Amazonia using JULES
Dr Facundo Alvarez – Cerrado hyperdominant trees and drivers of forest composition in Amazonia
Gavyn Mewett (PhD, Univ Exeter) – Effect of lightning on tree mortality in Africa
Gabriel Nunes (MSc, UNEMAT) – Carbon and forest composition dynamics following wildfire in southern Amazonia
Silvana Nascimento (PhD, UFAC) – Soil respiration in burned and intact forests in southwestern Amazonia
Amauri de Castro Barradas (PhD, UNEMAT-Brazil) – Forest composition, structure, and carbon cycling in forests in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil
Lorena de Souza Fleury (MSc, INPA) – Secondary forest regrowth and soil carbon on abandoned pastures in central Amazonia
Jess Thomas: Microclimate and forest structure in southern Amazonia
Silvana Nasimento: Soil respiration and microclimate in intact and degraded forests in Acre
Maurivan Barros Pereira: Soil respiration and microclimate in intact and degraded forests in Mato Grosso
Gabriel Nunes: Forest carbon dynamics following wildfire and deforestation in southern Amazonia
Gavyn Mewett: Tree mortality from lightning in Ghana
João Pompeu: Amazon Basin-wide variation in soil PyC and forest structure based on remote sensing analysis
Wanderlei Bieluczyk: What do soil carbon and pyrogenic carbon isotopes reveal about intact forests in Amazonia?
Lidiany Carvalho: Root and Soil Pyrogenic Carbon relationships for intact forests in central Amazonia
Jess Thomas: Estimating soil carbon from remote sensing and ground data for Rio Cautario, Rondonia, Brazil.
Oscar Kennedy-Blundell: Intro to the JULES Land Surface Model and Soil Carbon Models and integrating pyrogenic carbon into JULES to evaluate PyC affects on carbon emissions in Amazonia with climate warming
João Pompeu: Google Earth Engine and Colab for analyses
Gavyn Mewett: Lightning research, including plans for a new experiment in the Univ Cardiff Lightning Laboratory assess lightning-induced changes in soil
Facundo Alvarez: Hyperdominance in the Cerrado tree flora
Amauri de Castro Barradas: Forest composition, structure, and carbon cycling in forests in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Dr Annia Susin Strehe – Effect of lightning on tropical forest composition and carbon dynamics
Dr Julieth Serrano – Forest diversity and carbon along an altitudinal gradient in Colombian montane forests
Dr Grace Jopaul Loubota – Drivers of variation in pantropical crown allometry
Dr James Hill – Using charcoal reflectance to understand post-fire changes in tropical forests
Dr Alastair Crawford – Using charcoal reflectance to evaluate past fires in Amazonia
Dr Nina Koele – Soil pyrogenic carbon stocks in Amazonia
Dr Klécia Gili Massi – Tree traits and ancient wildfire in Amazonia
Yuwan Wang (PhD, Univ Exeter-QUEX Scholarship 2020-23) – Peat and fire in tropical forests
Luciana Pereira (PhD, Univ Exeter International Excellence Scholarship 2018-22) – Potential of ALOS-PALSAR to estimate and map vegetation structural and carbon storage in Amazon forests
Laura Vedovato (PhD, Univ Exeter, CAPES-Brazil) – From the Past to the Present: Impacts of fire on Amazonian forests
Lucas Heber Mariano do Santos (MSC, UNEMAT) – Understory regeneration following experimental forest fire in southern Amazonia
Luiz Paulo da Silva (MSc, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil 2021-2023) – Analysis of tropical forest paleo-fires using charcoal data
Grace Jopaul Loubota (Exeter – visiting PhD student from Université de Liège, 2017) – Tree allometry and biomass in central Africa
Stacey New (PhD, Univ Exeter NERC DTP, SilvaCarbon 2015-19) – Charcoal reflectance: a quantitative approach to understanding the impact of fire on an ecosystem. Currently a research scientist at the UK Met Office
Chantelle Burton (PhD, University of Exeter, Met Office-UK 2015-19) – Modelling fire interactions with tropical forest, climate, and land-use. Currently a research scientist at the UK Met Office
Larissa Barbosa (MSc, Univ Exeter-INPA 2017-19) – Pyrogenic carbon and belowground biomass in central Amazonia
Marcelle Abdiel de Souza (MSc, Univ Exeter-INPA 2017-19) – Response of secondary forests in central Amazonia to relaxed nutrient constraints. Currently a PhD student at INPA-Brazil
Edmar Oliveira (PhD, UNEMAT-Brazil) – Pyrogenic carbon, soil, and forest composition and structure in southern Amazonia
George Edwards (MSc, Univ of Exeter, 2022-2023) – Methods to reduce C emissions from above ground biomass, upon removal and storage from gold mining, Ecuadorian Amazon
Nayane Prestes (MSc, UNEMAT-Brazil) – Understory regrowth following wildfire in southern Amazonia
Demetrius Martins (MSc, INPA-Brazil, 2012) – Environmental and edaphic drivers of variation in coarse woody debris stocks and wood density in central Amazonia
Erick M. Oblitas Mendoza (PhD, INPA-CAPES studentship, Brazil 2012-16) – Temporal and spatial variation in fine root production in central Amazonian forests
Contact Prof Feldpausch to collaborate or discuss potential post-graduate studies.