Douglas Hamilton
Bio
“How is human activity perturbing the Earth System and what are the impacts of these changes for climate, biogeochemical cycles, and society?”
Answering this question requires taking a holistic view of how wildfires and other natural aerosol are a fundamental component of the climate system and biogeochemical cycles. Diverse observations and Earth system models can be used to quantify the integrated impact of human activity on Earth system natural processes and evaluate the feedbacks to which society is most sensitive. As an Earth system scientist, my research interests are inherently interdisciplinary and interface across a blend of climate science, atmospheric science, biogeochemistry, health impact science, and analytical chemistry.
Education
PhD University of Leeds, UK 2016
Masters University of East Anglia, UK 2012
Area(s) of Expertise
1) Investigating how aerosols couple Earth system processes from the local to global scale among the solid surface, oceans, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere within the Anthropocene.
2) Evaluation of how fire regimes are modified both by climate change and shifts in human land use management practices. Related science questions advance understanding of how changes in fires then alter the energy balance of the atmosphere, clouds, regional weather, biogeochemical cycles, and air quality.
3) Determining the impact that changes in aerosol nutrient supply to marine regions has on phytoplankton productivity, carbon dioxide sequestration, and the overall health of our oceans.
Publications
- Assessing changes in global fire regimes , FIRE ECOLOGY (2024)
- Evaluating the potential of iron-based interventions in methane reduction and climate mitigation , Environmental Research Letters (2024)
- Opinion: The importance of historical and paleoclimate aerosol radiative effects , ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS (2024)
- Preface to the inter-journal special issue "RUSTED: Reducing Uncertainty in Soluble aerosol Trace Element Deposition" , ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES (2024)
- Rice residue burning trajectories in Eastern India: current realities, scenarios of change, and implications for air quality , ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2024)
- Acclimation of Phytoplankton Fe:C Ratios Dampens the Biogeochemical Response to Varying Atmospheric Deposition of Soluble Iron , GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES (2023)
- An aerosol odyssey: Navigating nutrient flux changes to marine ecosystems , ELEMENTA-SCIENCE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE (2023)
- Assessing long-distance atmospheric transport of soilborne plant pathogens , ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2023)
- Nitrogen fixation rates in the Guinea Dome and the equatorial upwelling regions in the Atlantic Ocean , BIOGEOCHEMISTRY (2023)
- Atmospheric Radiative and Oceanic Biological Productivity Responses to Increasing Anthropogenic Combustion‐Iron Emission in the 1850–2010 Period , Geophysical Research Letters (2022)