AgroClimatology

Matthew Ball
Agroecology research, in the context of Climate Change
matthewwball(at)btinternet.com
@AgroClimatology

Curriculum Vitae

Bio

I am currently an undergraduate I am currently an undergraduate BSc Geography student at Durham University. I hold a primary focus on agroecology, specifically soil biogeochemistry and associated contributions to climate change. I intend to enter the field of soil science after University, specifically continuing to work with greenhouse gas flux data and models to inform the sustainable management of agroecosystems.

Research Interests

Agricultural Climate Change Contributions & Impacts

Improving understandings of greenhouse gas emissions from agroecosystems, alongside climate change impacts on agriculture itself. Primarily focused on nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions from perennial crops in the context of varying agricultural management techniques - notably, the application of differing nitrogen fertilisers and inhibitors. Alongside, evaluation of the standalone impacts of such management techniques - mainly focusing upon crop yield and soil health. All appreciated within the overarching context of a warming climate, with projected climate change impacts on varying soil types and crops also being of notable interest.

Climate, Crop & Ecosystem Modelling

Numerical climate modelling in R, Matlab and Python on global to local scales. Working with GCMs and RCMs where appropriate. Working primarily with downscaled CMIP5 / PRISM data and evaluating climate conditions following the SSPs. Primarily applied to determining key future agricultural factors - namely, mean temperature and precipitation change - on regional to national scales. With modelled projections of said climate variables serving as key inputs in crop and ecosystem modelling, such as DSSAT and ECOSYS models.