Mike Whitfield

Peatlands are carbon cycling hotspots

Mike — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:25:56 +0000

Last week I gave a talk at the British Ecological Society’s Annual Meeting in Sheffield – you’ll find it embedded below. If you view the talk on SlideShare, you’ll be able to see notes for each of the slides (under speaker’s notes). The story is similar to the previous talks that I’ve uploaded, but I’ve included a bit more information about the microbial communities in this one, along with some preliminary greenhouse gas emission data.

The quality of the talks and thematic sessions at the BES meeting was generally very high – I’m very much looking forward to attending next year’s.

Cycling on a windy day

Mike — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:34:20 +0000

This is my first post for a while, and may well be the last for some time – I’m settling into PhD-finishing mode. I’m still finding time for some fun things though, like cycling…

The weather in Lancaster today has been… exciting. After battling the rain-filled headwind all the way to work, I heard news of major delays on the railways and motorways after extensive flooding. This evening was a different story. The wind had, if anything, intensified during the day, blowing the rain away and whipping the tempestuous clouds across the sky at an alarming rate. I left campus and pedalled hard south into the wind again, then turned north to ride back home along the Lune estuary path.

What a ride it was. The cross-wind kept threatening to shove me into the trees – at times it felt more like sailing than riding a bike. Despite the need to concentrate, I couldn’t resist throwing glances back over my left shoulder and out to sea. The wind was piling the waves up into the estuary, brown seawater swelling high over the normally dry and grassy salt marsh. A dazzling silver-gold light spilled over the lush, now ponded fields, accentuating all the colours in the late summer vegetation. Rarely have I seen the grass such a vibrant green. Cows moved together to investigate the new watering holes. On the estuary path, trees raged sideways in the gale, scattering twigs and leaves, apples and galls across the way.

I arrived back at the dockside tired, ready to make the most of the generous tailwind. There’s nothing quite like spinning easily back home in top gear, the wind in your back, tyres zipping up the tarmac.

Today’s verdict? Cycle on rainy days. You’ll have adventures.

Upscaling peatland diversity and carbon dynamics is a winner

Mike — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:40:56 +0000

Back in March I won the first prize at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute’s* annual Student Seminar Day for presenting the following talk, which gives an up-to date overview of my research.

* Macaulay Land Use Research Institute recently became the James Hutton Institute

New 2020Vision promo video

Mike — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:16:20 +0000

You might have read my previous posts about 2020Vision, the multimedia initiative that is all about documenting the links between healthy communities and healthy ecosystems. I’m not actively involved in the 2020Vision project, but I think it’s a great idea. Here’s their new promo video, showcasing some of their most stunning images and the principles behind the initiative:

Capturing the wilder side of Britain

Mike — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:16:23 +0000

At a recent IUCN Peatland Programme meeting I met Mark Hamblin, web designer and image manager for 2020Vision.

2020Vision is a multimedia initiative, designed to promote the links between healthy people and healthy ecosystems. With a team of 20 photographers, they aim to communicate the value of healthy ecosystems to the public and key decision-makers. To do this they’ve created 20 ‘assignments‘, which focus on key ecosystems, one of which (of interest to me) is peatlands.

I can thoroughly recommend the 2020v blog, which regularly features stunning images, like the one below:

SOM 2010: Peatland Diversity and Carbon Dynamics

Mike — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:34:38 +0000

Embedded below is the talk I plan to deliver at SOM 2010, in France.

More to come after the conference!

How big is it?

Mike — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:30:35 +0000

This is a frequent question of mine, in relation to the spatial aspect of my research. It also comes up at higher frequencies around coffee time.

The BBC have put together this interesting site, which works by simply overlaying a spatial phenomenon over a location of your choice. So for example, you could investigate the practical implications of a full-size mock-up of Stonehenge in Trafalgar Square…

A night-time ride around London

Mike — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:50:30 +0000

At 6:30am on 20th June, I pedalled into a car park at Crystal Palace, a huge grin on my face. I’d just completed a night-time ride around the capital, passing by all the landmarks, and I was smiling in the knowledge that the last grind of a hill was over and that a bacon roll was imminent. Since setting off a 11:50pm, I’d cycled 68.5 miles at a stately average of 12mph over 5.5 hours. I was doing it to raise money for Shelter – my total now stands at £360.14. Many thanks to all those who sponsored me!

Below is a map of the route.

View Larger Map

Highlights of the ride for me include cruising over Tower Bridge, and blasting around the pristine tarmac of a deserted Canary Wharf. This post on the Guardian’s bike blog sums up the pleasure to be had from the quieter sections of the ride neatly. It was a brilliant (if tiring) experience, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

Weekly resource roundup: 20th May

Mike — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:15:58 +0000

I’ve just got back from a couple of days installing gas sampling kit, so this is a bit late, but better than never, here’s the selection for this week…

Surprising weather at Moor House

1. Multiple to-do lists: Something I’ve been experimenting with recently is using three to-do lists to prioritise tasks. I use three notepads, for today, this week, and whenever, but there are other ways of organising it. I quite like it as a system for getting information out of my head, to make room for more!

2. Gantt charts: Gantt charts are a good way of mapping out your project in the longer term. GanttProject is an easy-to-use program that runs on Windows, Mac or Linux and can be downloaded for free.

3. May Methods Digest: online here

Weekly resource round-up: Monday 10th May

Mike — Sun, 09 May 2010 15:34:17 +0000

This week’s handy things:

The latest issue of Methods in Ecology and Evolution is available online, and features some interesting stats articles (‘Do not log-transform count data’ for example).
Interesting paper on free and open-source geospatial tools for landscape ecology, previously posted about here.
This blog post features some useful tips for academic poster design.
A few conference abstract deadlines are coming up:
1. GFOE 40^th Anniversary Meeting, Giessen, Germany: 25^th May
2. Organic Matter Stabilisation and Ecosystem Functions, Presqu’île de Giens, France: 15^th May
3. BES Annual Meeting, Leeds: 10^th May (today!)