Jorge Ramirez, University of Exeter

My background is in natural resource management, geoinformatics and physical geography. I have considerable experience in spatially modelling physical processes through research projects in peatland ecohydrology and methane emissions from peat. I am specifically interested in peatlands because they are highly dynamic and lend themselves to be investigated using numerical models and spatial analysis.

During my PhD, I developed a reduced complexity model of methane ebullition from peat that included a spatial representation of peat pore structure and pore-level gas dynamics. Overall, this research produced evidence that peat structure is an important factor in ebullition magnitude and frequency. More recently, we applied this model to methane ebullition in sub-tropical peatlands and verified the model’s capacity to replicate naturally occurring ebullition.

I have also developed an ecohydrological model for boreal peatlands. The focus of this research was to validate a process model of peat accumulation against field observations and quantify the effect of climate change on future peat carbon stocks. In addition to my experience in peat modelling, I have quantified land surface processes using landscape evolution and hydrodynamic models. This research has focused on sediment transport in rivers where climate change and anthropogenic effects have drastically altered sediment and water flux.