AgroClimatology
Matthew Ball
Agroecology research, in the context of Climate Change
matthewwball(at)btinternet.com
@AgroClimatology
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.
Academic Articles
Modelling the historic and projected near-surface temperature trends across Canada
September, 2022
October, 2021
April, 2021
August, 2020
Short Form Written Pieces
Presentations
Presenter - 10th SCAR Open Science Conference 2022
August, 2022 - Poster link
UAI Research Placement 3MT Video - "Greenhouse gas emissions from Perennial Wheat"
July, 2022 - Video link
Presenter - Second International NatRiskChange Conference 2021
October, 2021 - Poster link (filed under Session 2, Poster 1)
Research photos
A short collection of photos illustrating my past research, from both the field and the lab.