Dr Jessica Baker

Biography

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Earth an Environment, where my work focuses on trying to develop a better understanding of tropical climate, using data from a variety of sources. Instrumental climate data from the Amazon is relatively scarce, and doesn’t extend far back in time, which poses a challenge for those studying this globally important region. In an effort to overcome this difficulty, my PhD focused on using stable isotopes in tropical tree rings to reconstruct past changes in the Amazon hydrological cycle. I used back trajectory modelling to investigate the mechanisms driving interannual isotope variability, and developed new tree-ring isotope records from Bolivia and Ecuador, which capture over 200 years of variation in Amazon hydrology. I am currently working with Prof. Dominick Spracklen, and other colleagues from the University of Leeds, on the LAPSE project, which is part of the wider CSSP Brazil programme coordinated by the Met Office. As part of this project, I am using data from Earth observation satellites to study how the land surface and the atmosphere interact to affect tropical climate, and evaluating how well these processes are represented in global climate models. Qualifications 2013–2017: PhD in Ecology and Global Change, University of Leeds Title: Unravelling the drivers of short- and long-term variability in the Amazon hydrological cycle using tree-ring oxygen isotopes. Supervisors: Roel Brienen and Manuel Gloor. Available online: http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18233/

Research Interest

The application of complexity science modelling methods to energy challenges at the technology-policy interface. The delivery of national energy policy at the local level and the role of local authorities in city-level energy decision-making.