Dr James C. White PhD

James White picture

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Research Fellow in Water Sciences
Affiliate 麻豆精选 Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action

Contact details

Email
j.c.white.1@bham.ac.uk
Address
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

James' research broadly entails quantifying freshwater ecosystem responses to environmental changes to help guide sustainable management solutions. Knowledge transfer to non-academic partners like environmental regulators and water companies is fundamental his research. James' research interest centres on four globally important themes:

  1. Informing freshwater management initiatives like environmental flows and river restoration via ‘big data’ analytical approaches;
  2. Characterizing river water temperature dynamics in the context of global environmental change;
  3. Undertaking community-based research and citizen science approaches to characterise freshwater pressures;
  4. Quantifying multi-stressor interactive effects on the biodiversity of standing water ecosystems.

Qualifications

2014-2018: PhD in Freshwater Ecology and Hydrology, Loughborough University

2013-2014: MSc in River Environments and their Management, University 麻豆精选

2010-2013: BSc in Geography, University of Southampton

Biography

2022-Present:  Research Fellow in Water Sciences, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action, University 麻豆精选

2020-2022:  River Restoration Scientific and Technical Officer, River Restoration Centre

2018-2020: Postgraduate Researcher in Freshwater Environmental Management, Department of Biosciences, Swansea University.

Teaching

Hydrogeomorphology and Catchment Management (33993 LM - Postgraduate)

Advances in Water Science and River Management (33978 LM - Postgraduate)

Catchment Processes, Environmental Change and Restoration (36263 LH, Undergraduate, Year 3)

Field Research Skills (36187 LH, Undergraduate, Year 2)

Fieldwork Project Design (40315 LC, Undergraduate, Year 1)

Postgraduate supervision

James is broadly interested in pressures and impacts within freshwater environments and how this can be sustainably managed. This spans 'blue sky' ecological studies through to very applied research working alongside industrial partners to help inform real-world solutions. Current topics that he is supervising includes quantifying national-scale ecological responses to river restoration practices and examining the global impacts of dams on riparian plant diversity. Further details on James' specific research expertise are outlined above, and he welcomes enquiries from prospective researchers with similar interests.

Research

The overarching theme of James’ research involves quantifying freshwater ecosystem responses to different anthropogenic stressors that help guide sustainable management solutions. Within this, his research interests covers four globally important themes:

  • Informing freshwater management initiatives like environmental flows and river restoration via ‘big data’ analytical approaches;
  • Characterizing river water temperature dynamics in the context of global environmental change;
  • Working with volunteer groups to generate robust citizen science datasets and gather community insights and values on freshwater ecosystems.
  • Quantifying multi-stressor interactive effects on the biodiversity of standing water ecosystems.

Other activities

  • Associate editor for Journal of Applied Ecology
  • Founder of  volunteer initiative
  • Scientific advisor for the River Restoration Centre
  • British Ecological Society

Publications

Recent publications

Article

White, JC, Seddon, E, Hill, MJ, Mathers, KL, Bridger, M, Hannah, DM & Wood, PJ 2024, '', River Research and Applications.

England, J, White, JC, Johns, T, Meadows, G & Hannah, DM 2024, '', River Research and Applications.

White, JC, Khamis, K, Dugdale, S, Jackson, FL, Malcolm, IA, Krause, S & Hannah, DM 2023, '', Hydrological Processes, vol. 37, no. 10, e14958.

Hill, MJ, Wood, PJ, White, JC, Thornhill, I, Fairchild, W, Williams, P, Nicolet, P & Biggs, J 2023, '', Insect Conservation and Diversity.

Stubbington, R, Sarremejane, R, Laini, A, Cid, N, Csabai, Z, England, J, Munn茅, A, Aspin, T, Bonada, N, Bruno, D, Cauvy鈥怓raunie, S, Chadd, R, Dienstl, C, Fortu帽o Estrada, P, Graf, W, Guti茅rrez鈥怌谩novas, C, House, A, Karaouzas, I, Kazila, E, Mill谩n, A, Morais, M, Pa艡il, P, Pickwell, A, Pol谩拧ek, M, S谩nchez鈥怓ern谩ndez, D, Tziortzis, I, V谩rb铆r贸, G, Voreadou, C, Walker鈥怘olden, E, White, J & Datry, T 2022, '', Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 537-548.

White, JC, Aspin, TWH, Picken, JL, Ledger, ME, Wilby, RL & Wood, PJ 2022, '', Ecohydrology, vol. 15, no. 5, e2422.

Hill, MJ, White, JC, Biggs, J, Briers, RA, Gledhill, D, Ledger, ME, Thornhill, I, Wood, PJ & Hassall, C 2021, '', Diversity and Distributions, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 887-900.

White, JC, Fornaroli, R, Hill, MJ, Hannah, DM, House, A, Colley, I, Perkins, M & Wood, PJ 2021, '', Water Research, vol. 189, 116651.

White, JC, Krajenbrink, HJ, Hill, MJ, Hannah, DM, House, A & Wood, PJ 2019, '', Freshwater Biology, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 555-576.

White, JC, House, A, Punchard, N, Hannah, DM, Wilding, NA & Wood, PJ 2017, '', Science of the Total Environment.

White, JC, Hannah, DM, House, A, Beatson, SJV, Martin, A & Wood, PJ 2017, '', Ecohydrology, vol. 10, no. 1, e1773.

Letter

White, JC, Ficklin, D, Adelsperger, S & Hannah, DM 2025, '', Environmental Research Letters, vol. 20, no. 3, 034056.

Review article

Peralta-Maraver, I, Stubbington, R, Arnon, S, Kratina, P, Krause, S, De mello cionek, V, Leite, NK, Da silva, ALL, Thomaz, SM, Posselt, M, Milner, VS, Momblanch, A, Moretti, MS, N贸brega, RLB, Perkins, DM, Petrucio, MM, Reche, I, Saito, V, Sarmento, H, Strange, E, Taniwaki, RH, White, J, Alves, GHZ & Robertson, AL 2021, '', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 772, 145494.