ERI Associate
Dr Paul Gaffney
Paul is an ERI Associate, and his research interests broadly encompasses the effects of land-use and climate change on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem function, with a special focus on peatlands. Relevant areas include ecohydrological restoration of wetlands, water quality following land use change and carbon and biogeochemical cycling. He has carried out field-based studies in the UK, Canada and China while he is also interested in global trends. Paul’s PhD and later research was carried out with ERI, where he investigated the effects of bog restoration in formerly afforested peatlands on water quality and aquatic carbon fluxes. He is also involved in the ERI’s hydrochemistry commercial and consultancy projects.
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2022- present: ERI Associate
2022- present: Assistant Professor, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2021-2022: Researcher in Hydrochemistry, ERI
2017-2018: Invited visiting researcher – Université Laval, Canada
2017-2021: Post Doctoral Research Associate – Hydrochemistry, ERI
2012-2016: PhD in Environmental Science, ERI/ University of Aberdeen
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Current:
Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland, The Scottish Universities Partnership for Environmental Research (SUPER) Doctoral Training Programme, Water quality risks from soil structure degradation in Scotland, 2022-10 to 2026-03, CO-I (PhD supervisor)
Scottish Funding Council, Hydro Nation Scholars Programme, Innovative brash management to enhance water quality following peatland restoration and forestry operations, 2021-10 to 2025-09, CO-PI (PhD supervisor)
Past:
Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, Uncoupling the impact of de-icer use and other water quality drivers in and around a rural airport, 2021-10-2023-03, CO-I (MSc supervisor)
University of the Highlands and Islands Water Quality Innovation Group / Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Production optimisation of a biochar from waste conifer brash and investigation of its potential use in nutrient removal, 2020-11 to 2021-05, CO-PI
EU Interact, Interact Transnational Access Programme, Carbon Cycling in Ombrotrophic Peatland Pool Systems, 2021-05 to 2022-10, CO-I
Scottish Funding Council, Hydro Nation Scholars Programme, Reed bed use within Scottish whisky distilleries to treat wastewater: A new toolkit to help maximise performance, 2020-10 to 2024-09, CO-I (PhD supervisor)
Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland, The Scottish Universities Partnership for Environmental Research (SUPER) Doctoral Training Programme, From landscapes to freshwater invertebrates: understanding the effects of peatland restoration on Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) habitat in the Flow Country, 2019-10 to 2023-03, CO-I (PhD supervisor)
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PhD: Anna Anna McWilliam (ER), Ilgaz Cakin (ERI), Liam Godwin (ERI), Jessica Brooks (U. Aberdeen)
MRes: Thomas Thompson (ERI)
