Northern Canada has warmed rapidly over recent decades, at around twice the rate of global mean temperature increases. Rapid climate change is leading to extensive changes in the high latitude terrestrial environment, including observed increases in temperature extremes and precipitation patterns. Such rapid changes are leading to increasing challenges for high latitude communities, who struggle to adapt to a dynamic and increasingly variable environmental system. A particular environmental risk that has received recent attention is an observed increase in high latitude landscape fire activity, including in northern British Columbia and Yukon Territory, Canada. Here, land use management practices, under-investment in fire management infrastructure, climate-driven vegetation shifts, and a weakening of traditional fire management practices have compounded the impacts of climate change on wildfires.
This PhD project will develop mixed-method approaches to understand recent changes in fire activity affecting northern British Columbia and Yukon Territory, and their impacts on local communities. The project is expected to integrate information from satellite data products, and from local and Indigenous peoples, to better understand recent changes in fire activity in the context of local perspectives and practices.
In particular, the project will address the following research questions:
- How has fire in northern British Columbia been changing over recent years? How do local/Indigenous knowledge and community perceptions of these changes relate to satellite-based assessments?
- What are the roles for human-driven land use and other traditional community practices in increasing or mitigating fire risk in the region?
- Which regions and communities are at high risk to changing fire regimes?
It is expected that the student will be involved in fieldwork visits to northern British Columbia and/or Yukon Territory (when permitted), to undertake community engagement activities, possibly including setting up community-based monitoring of air pollution to link with question (2) above.
The project will also be closely aligned to the ACRoBEAR (Arctic Community Resilience to Boreal Environmental change: Assessing Risks from fire and disease) project, which aims to predict and understand health risks from and societal resilience to wildfire air pollution and natural-focal disease at high latitudes. The student will benefit from engagement with the broad interdisciplinary and international ACRoBEAR project team.
For info on how to apply, see: How to Apply - NERC Panorama DTP (panorama-dtp.ac.uk)
This project is in competition for up to 26 fully-funded PhDs for UK, EU, and overseas candidates. Each scholarship will provide full tuition fees, tax-free stipend (£15,609 for 2021/22), and a substantial Research Training and Support Grant, for 3.5 years.
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