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Richard Fewster

Richard Fewster

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6883-7024

Accepting PhD Students

Personal profile

Overview

I am a peatland scientist, with wide-ranging interests in past and future environmental change, pollution, permafrost dynamics, high-latitude ecosystems, and climate change. 

 

Biography

2024-2025: Research Fellow, Pollutants In PEatlands: from sink to Source (PIPES), Queen's University Belfast

2023: Research Associate, Increased Carbon Accumulation in Arctic Peatlands (ICAAP), University of Exeter 

2019-2023: PhD, Changing ecology, hydrology and permafrost in circum-Arctic peatlands, University of Leeds 

2018-2019: MSc by Research, Holocene Climate Space of North American Permafrost Peatlands, University of Leeds 

2015-2018: BSc (Hons) Geography, University of Leeds 

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

Member of European Geosciences Union

Member of Quaternary Research Association

Member of British Ecological Society

Member of Irish Quaternary Association

 

Education/Academic qualification

Doctor of Philosophy, Changing ecology, hydrology and permafrost in circum-Arctic peatlands, University of Leeds

2019 → 2023

Award Date: 17 Oct 2023

Master of Research, Holocene Climate Space of North American Permafrost Peatlands, University of Leeds

2018 → 2019

Award Date: 20 Jan 2020

Bachelor of Science, BSc Geography (hons), University of Leeds

2015 → 2018

Award Date: 29 Jun 2018

External positions

Research Fellow, Queen's University Belfast

Jan 2024 → Oct 2025

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Exeter

Jun 2023 → Dec 2023

Areas of expertise

  • GB Physical geography
  • Peatlands
  • Permafrost
  • Pollution
  • Climate Change
  • Arctic
  • Palaeoecology

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    SDG 2 Zero Hunger
  2. SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
    SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
  3. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  4. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water
  5. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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  • Pan‐Arctic Peatlands Have Expanded During Recent Warming

    Handley, J., Fewster, R., Sim, T. G., Hodson, S., Parker, B., Crichton, K. A., Charman, D. J., Anderson, K., Garneau, M., Väliranta, M., Beilman, D. W., Swindles, G. T., Aquino‐López, M., Blaauw, M., Comas, X., Levesque, E., Maire, V., Addis, H., Amesbury, M. J. & Fortier, D. & 2 others, Mleczko, M. & Gallego‐Sala, A. V., 13 Feb 2026, In: Global Change Biology. 32, 2, e70684.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access

  • Climate and water-table levels regulate peat accumulation rates across Europe

    Swindles, G. T., Mullan, D. J., Brannigan, N. T., Fewster, R. E., Sim, T. G., Gallego-Sala, A., Blaauw, M., Lamentowicz, M., Jassey, V. E. J., Marcisz, K., Green, S. M., Roland, T. P., Loisel, J., Amesbury, M. J., Blundell, A., Chambers, F. M., Charman, D. J., Evans, C. R. C., Feurdean, A. & Galloway, J. M. & 16 others, Gałka, M., Karofeld, E., Keaveney, E. M., Korhola, A., Lamentowicz, Ł., Langdon, P., Mauquoy, D., McKeown, M. M., Mitchell, E. A. D., Plunkett, G., Roe, H. M., Turner, T. E., Sillasoo, Ü., Väliranta, M., van der Linden, M. & Warner, B., Jul 2025, In: PLoS ONE. 20, 7 July, e0327422.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access

  • Climate Warming and Deglaciation Drive New Peat Formation in the Southern Alps, Aotearoa/New Zealand

    Fewster, R. E., Swindles, G. T., Carrivick, J. L., Gałka, M., Roland, T. P., McKeown, M., Sutherland, J. L., Tweed, F., Mullan, D., Graham, C., Gallego-Sala, A. & Morris, P. J., 28 Feb 2025, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 52, 4, e2024GL113786.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access

  • Satellite data indicates recent Arctic peatland expansion with warming

    Crichton, K. A., Anderson, K., Fewster, R. E., Charman, D. J., Garneau, M., Väliranta, M., Mleczko, M., Handley, J. N., Hodson, S., Parker, R. E., Swindles, G. T., Blaauw, M. & Gallego-Sala, A. V., Dec 2025, In: Communications Earth and Environment. 6, 1, 461.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access

  • Organic matter is a predominant control on total mercury concentration of near-surface lake sediments across a boreal to low Arctic tundra transect in northern Canada

    Galloway, J. M., Parsons, M. B., Ardakani, O. H., Falck, H., Fewster, R. E., Swindles, G. T., Sanei, H., Palmer, M. J., Nasser, N. A. & Patterson, R. T., 1 Dec 2024, In: Science of the Total Environment. 954, 176466.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

View all 12 research outputs