Assessing the role of woodland restoration in managing hillslope hydrology for landslide hazard reduction

Are you interested in understanding the potential for nature-based solutions to increase resilience to natural hazards? We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD researcher to join us, working in partnership with the UK’s principal forest research organisation! The project offers an exceptional opportunity to develop skills in natural science, conduct fieldwork, use innovative approaches and tackle fundamental questions whilst producing research that will be valuable to policy makers and practitioners.

Background

Globally the twin challenges of climate change and land use change are altering the frequency and severity of a range of natural hazards, such as floods, landslides, and wildfires. Concurrently, traditional methods of managing these hazards are struggling to keep up and costs are rising. In this context, nature-based solutions (NBS) for natural hazard management such as tree planting to reduce rapid runoff or stabilize slopes, are gaining increasing interest and being incorporated into some infrastructure projects.

Many areas of the world are prone to landslide hazards, especially in steep mountainous regions. They cause thousands of deaths annually, lead to significant economic losses through disruption to infrastructure, and can lead to environmental degradation, for example through soil erosion and sedimentation. While our understanding of slope failure mechanisms is relatively advanced, the role of natural management techniques such as tree planting is still poorly understood and little investigated in some areas. Monitoring and predicting landslides is also challenging given the variability of conditions across sites and our limited knowledge of key parameters such as soil moisture levels.

Partnering with Forest Research (the UK’s principal forest research organization), this project will explore these questions, investigating the role of woodland restoration in landslide hazard reduction and testing state of the art monitoring methodologies for soil moisture quantification in a Scottish context.

Aims/objectives

The aim of this project is to investigate the influence of tree planting on hillslope hydrology, and the potential role this can play in slope stabilisation.

Specific objectives include:

1. Review current evidence and approaches to nature-based management of water in slopes for landslide hazard reduction

2. Characterisation of slope failure mechanisms in the Scottish uplands, and the respective roles of geology/soils, climatic variables, and vegetation (particularly restored woodland)

3. Evaluating the utility of new methods for monitoring hillslope hydrology relevant to nature-based approaches to slope stabilisation (specifically the use of Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) methods)

4. Modelling the future potential of nature-based landslide hazard management approaches at site to regional levels.

Methods/Approach

A range of methods will be used, including field, lab and modelling approaches, focussing on hydrology, soils and geological analysis with a focus on collecting and analysing data from the Rest and Be Thankful pass in the Scottish Highlands. This is an area with frequent landslides that lead to major transport disruption and where a new multi-million pound management scheme is being implemented (including nature-based approaches).

·        Collecting and analysing water flow data from instrumentation on hillsides, and comparing this with soil moisture data from newly installed CRNS probes at control and treatment sites.

·        Installation of further soil moisture and shallow groundwater monitoring equipment (depending on permissions), and analysis of subsequent data.

·        Geotechnical lab work, particularly to investigate soil physical and hydrological properties.

·        Hydrological and slope stability modelling, particularly focussed on how plants alter hydrological processes within slopes.

·        Depending on candidate skillset and time, there may be scope for comparative work with other countries/regions and regional scale modelling of landslide hazards.

Funding

This is a full scholarship which will cover tuition fees (Home and Oversees) and provide an annual stipend (paid in line with UKRI recommended rates, £20,780 in 2025-25) for 42 months. Thereafter, candidates will be expected to pay a continuing affiliation fee (currently £130) whilst they complete writing up their thesis.

Eligibility

This project is available to all students, whether Home or Overseas fee payers.

Candidates should have a first-class honours degree in a relevant subject or a 2.1 honours degree plus Masters (or equivalent) in Environmental Sciences or civil engineering (e.g. Hydrology, Soil Science, Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Environmental Engineering, Forestry), or other allied degree requiring quantitative skills (please enquire if you are unsure). A driving licence is desirable.

As this is an interdisciplinary project, we do not expect you to be an expert in all aspects, but to have some knowledge of the relevant science. The collaboration of supervisors across two institutions will give you access to relevant training, as well as researchers using state-of the art approaches from their respective disciplines. Policy and industry relevant interdisciplinary training will also be provided.

How to Apply

To apply you must complete our online application form.

Please select PhD Environment as the programme and include the full project title, reference number (EGIS2025-LP) and supervisor name on your application form. Ensure that all fields marked as ‘required’ are complete.

Once you have entered your personal details, click submit. You will be asked to upload your supporting documents. You must complete the section marked project proposal; provide a supporting statement (1-2 A4 pages) documenting your reasons for applying to this particular project, outlining your suitability and how you would approach the project. You must also upload your CV, a copy of your degree certificate and relevant transcripts and an academic reference in the relevant section of the application form.

You must also provide proof of your ability in the English language (if English is not your mother tongue). We require an IELTS certificate showing an overall score of at least 6.5 with no component scoring less than 6.0, or a TOEFL certificate with an overall score of at least 85, including reading 20, listening 19, speaking 20 and writing 21. Alternatively, if you have received an English-taught Bachelors or Masters degree from one of the countries listed on the UK Government Guidance under ‘Who does not need to prove their knowledge of English’, and it was obtained less than five years from your intended start date, you should provide evidence of your award that clearly states it was delivered and assessed in English language.

Please contact Dr Leo Peskett (L.Peskett@hw.ac.uk) for further information or an informal discussion.

Please contact egis-pgr-apps@hw.ac.uk for technical support with your application.

Timeline

The closing date for applications is 20 June 2025 and applicants must be available to start in September 2025. We will review applications as received and may close applications early if a suitable candidate is identified.

References

Bowyer, P., Alfieri, S.M., Basu, B., Cremin, E., Debele, S., Kumar, P., Lechner, V., Loupis, M., Menenti, M., Mickovski, S., Gonzalez-Ollauri, A., Pfeiffer, J., Pilla, F., Pulvirenti, B., Ruggieri, P., Basu, A.S., Spyrou, C., Unguendoli, S., Zieher, T., Sabatino, S. di, 2024. Modelled effectiveness of NbS in reducing disaster risk: Evidence from the OPERANDUM project. Nature-Based Solutions 5, 100127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2024.100127
Fäth, J., Kneisel, C., 2024. Multi-method soil moisture monitoring at two temperate forest stands in Germany. Discov Appl Sci 6, 573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-024-06262-w
Gianessi, S., Polo, M., Stevanato, L., Lunardon, M., Francke, T., Oswald, S. E., Said Ahmed, H., Toloza, A., Weltin, G., Dercon, G., Fulajtar, E., Heng, L., and Baroni, G.: Testing a novel sensor design to jointly measure cosmic-ray neutrons, muons and gamma rays for non-invasive soil moisture estimation, Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 9–25, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-9-2024, 2024
Peskett, L., MacDonald, A., Heal, K., McDonnell, J., Chambers, J., Uhlemann, S., Upton, K., Black, A., 2020. The impact of across-slope forest strips on hillslope subsurface hydrological dynamics. Journal of Hydrology 581, 124427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124427 
Rasheed, M.W., Tang, J., Sarwar, A., Shah, S., Saddique, N., Khan, M.U., Imran Khan, M., Nawaz, S., Shamshiri, R.R., Aziz, M., Sultan, M., 2022. Soil Moisture Measuring Techniques and Factors Affecting the Moisture Dynamics: A Comprehensive Review. Sustainability 14, 11538. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811538
Sparkes, B., Dunning, S., Lim, M., Winter, M.G., 2017. Characterisation of Recent Debris Flow Activity at the Rest and Be Thankful, Scotland, in: Mikoš, M., Vilímek, V., Yin, Y., Sassa, K. (Eds.), Advancing Culture of Living with Landslides. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53483-1_8