Dr Cat Scott

Profile

I am an Associate Professor and NERC Independent Research Fellow in Biosphere-Climate Interactions. The overall aim of my research is to understand the extent to which land-use change can help mitigate climate change and meet the targets set in the Paris Agreement on Climate. I work in the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science and am a member of Biosphere Atmosphere Group.

I am Director of the Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere and Forest (LEAF) centre. LEAF aims to bring together anyone working on forests or other vegetation related research from various faculties within University, and make this research more accessible its end-users. LEAF also works with external partners such as charities, local authorities and media organisations on collaborative projects. With Prof Dominick Spracklen, I manage a team funded by UBoC to work on projects that link science with policy and action on trees and forests.

During 2018/2019 I undertook a secondment to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) working in the Science and Innovation for Climate and Energy (SICE) Directorate; find out more about my secondment here. 

Responsibilities

• Director of Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere & Forest (LEAF) centre

Research interests

My research explores interactions between the biosphere and the atmosphere - I am particularly interested in the role of trees and forests in mitigating and adapting to climate change. 

My previous research has demonstrated that forests and other vegetation can have a cooling impact on the climate because of interactions between plants and the composition of the atmosphere. Plants emit a wide range of gases into the air, the kind that give pine forests their distinctive smell. These gases take part in complex chemical reactions and can go on to form particles that act as seeds for cloud droplet formation. This process is important because the more droplets there are in a cloud, the brighter and more reflective of the Sun's energy it is, helping to cool the climate. My previous work also indicates that the cooling effects due to these natural particles could become stronger as global temperatures rise; this may act to slightly dampen the warming caused by higher GHG concentrations. 

• City-centered approach to catalyze nature-based solutions through the EU Regenerative Urban Lighthouse for pollution alleviation and regenerative development (UPSURGE)
• Meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate: Exploiting Earth System Models to determine the role of future land-use change

Qualifications

• PhD, 'The biogeochemical impacts of forests...', University of Leeds
• MSc, Energy and Environment, University of Leeds
• MChem, Chemistry with Industrial Experience, University of Manchester

Professional memberships

• British Ecological Society
• Fellow (D2) of Advance HE

Student education

I teach the Level 3/5 Terrestrial Biosphere in the Earth System module and contribute to teaching on other modules across the University. I supervise undergraduate (SOEE3030) and postgraduate (SOEE5020M; SOEE5400M; SOEE5961M) research projects in the School of Earth and Environment.

Research groups and institutes

• Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosols
• Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science

Current postgraduate researchers

• Hazel Mooney
• Cesca Darvill
• Elle Smith
• Yizhuo Wang
• Yue Chen
• Ian Willey