Dr Nick Chappell FRGS, FHEA
Reader in Hydrological ProcessesResearch Overview
Research
Nick’s research focuses on rainfall-runoff processes within upland UK & equatorial tropics.
Runoff pathways are regulated by meteorological & watershed effects & are impacted by land-use changes, such as those resulting from forestry. These pathways then regulate flood responses, erosion, sediment delivery & a range of water quality characteristics.
Current rates of development within the humid tropics are giving profound changes to water pathways & water resources (Wohl et al., 2012 Nature Climate Change), & research utilising new sensor (Pereira et al., 2014 Geophysical Research Letters) & modelling technologies (Chappell, Jones and Tych, 2017 Water Research) is needed.
Ongoing research projects where Nick is the Principal Investigator at Lancaster include:
- Quantifying the likely magnitude of nature-based flood mitigation effects across large catchments, Q-NFM ('NERC project’)
- Working with natural processes: National opportunity mapping of high runoff soils ('Environment Agency project’)
- Working with natural processes: Life IP Natural flood risk targeting maps ('Rivers Trust project’)
- Regulation of water quality and biodiversity by runoff processes (NERC-BESS ‘DURESS project’)
- Regulation of extreme flood responses by rainfall characteristics associated with particular synoptic climatologies (NERC-CWC ‘Western Ghats’ project)
- Quantifying sensitivity of suspended sediment dynamics to environmental change within Papua New Guinea (‘RamuSED project’)
Nick has a long-term research commitment to the discipline of forest hydrology at experimental basins in Malaysian Borneo with partner the Yayasan Sabah Group and at other sites within the SMART Watershed Network. For further details of Nick’s research publications and projects click these links and use the tabs above.
Research-led teaching and training
Nick teaches the core year 1 and year 2 hydrology courses and a third year field-course based at the Slapton Ley Field Studies Centre (click links to see course pages):
- LEC174 Hydrology: water in the environment
- LEC275 Catchment Hydrology
- LEC370 Hydrological Processes Field-course
These courses are available to the BSc Environmental Science programme, BSc Geography programme, and other programmes in LEC. Nick also teaches undergraduate, masters and PhD research projects in field hydrology and hydrological modelling and is the Director of the MSc Sustainable Water Management and PgCert/PgDip/MSc Flood and Coastal Risk Management programmes:
Nick is the author of the first eight chapters (focusing on hydrometry) of the latest edition of the hydrology reference text: Shaw EM, Beven KJ, Chappell NA & Lamb R 2011 Hydrology in Practice, Fourth Edition, Taylor & Francis
News
Research and teaching items that have appeared in news articles:
- Interview on NERC research on Natural Flood Management (BBC Radio Cumbria 9 Feb 2018)
- Interview on flood mitigation with trees (BBC Radio 4 Farming Today 6 Feb 2018)
- New report reviews role of trees in flood alleviation (Oct 2017)
- Supporting business with NFRM research (Sep 2017)
- Was Storm Desmond really that extreme? (Aug 2017)
- Safe water hope for slum dwellers (Jun 2017)
- Natural flood management could have made a ‘significant difference’ during Storm Desmond (Apr 2017)
- Interview on natural flood management (BBC Radio4 22 Dec 2016)
- Interview on cause of Lancaster floods (BBC Radio Lancs 5 Dec 2016)
- JBA & LEC win Defra flood innovation prize (Nov 2016)
- Reducing floods using nature (Feb 2016)
- New postgrad courses to help stem tide of flood devastation in UK (1 Aug 2014)
- Student helps ‘Watermen’ (30 May 2014)
- High fliers land at Lancaster University (18 March 2013)
- Lancaster shares in £13M Biodiversity Research Programme (22 June 2012)
- Better water research in the tropics needed in order to protect people (18 July 2012)
For further information, see Nick’s personal webpages
PhD Supervision Interests
I have supervised 13 PhD/MPhil graduates. I currently supervise 3 PhD/MPhil students and am willing to supervise further applicants
CiFR-Lancaster (Cumbria innovative Flood Resilience)
01/02/2024 → 31/03/2027
Research
Quantifying the Benefits of Natural Flood Management: Equivalent Volume Metrics (eVol)
01/08/2023 → 30/09/2023
Research
Working with Natural Processes Evidence Directory Update
01/03/2023 → 30/09/2023
Research
Q-NFM : Quantifying the likely magnitude of nature-based flood mitigation effects across large catchments - additional funding
01/10/2022 → 31/12/2022
Research
CiFR-Lancaster (Cumbria innovative Flood Resilience)
01/03/2022 → 31/03/2027
Research
Cumbrian Natural Flood Management Effectiveness Monitoring Network
01/02/2019 → 31/05/2026
Research
Q-NFM : Quantifying the likely magnitude of nature-based flood mitigation effects across large (Additional Funding Stream)
01/07/2018 → 30/11/2022
Research
Rutherford Fund Strategic Partner Grant 2018
01/04/2018 → 31/03/2019
Research
CLIMresilience: Exploring the economics of land use change for increasing resilience to climate change in England
10/02/2018 → 29/06/2018
Research
Q-NFM : Quantifying the likely magnitude of nature-based flood mitigation effects across large catchments
01/11/2017 → 31/03/2023
Research
Natural capital
01/10/2017 → 30/11/2017
Research
Quantifying flood mitigation benefits of proposed Countryside Stewardship interventions in the Gaythorne Hall demonstration catchment, Cumbria
01/09/2017 → 30/11/2017
Research
Quantifying flood mitigation benefits of tree planting on Mallerstang West Common, Upper Eden
01/09/2017 → 30/11/2017
Research
Magnitude of flood mitigation benefits resulting from tree planting and other measures in Wasdale Beck Catchment (River Lune headwaters)
26/06/2017 → 21/08/2017
Research
EA WWNP-WP2 – National NFM Opportunity Mapping
20/03/2017 → 19/08/2017
Research
The Last 100metres : Safeguarding potable water provisioning to urban informal settlements
01/12/2016 → 30/11/2018
Research
Working with natural processes: Life IP natural flood risk management targeting maps
25/07/2016 → 27/05/2017
Research
Novel Rainfall-Runoff Model of the Ulu Segama Basin, Borneo
01/01/2015 → 31/01/2015
Research
Chappell - CWC Extension Grant
01/10/2014 → 31/03/2015
Research
Hydrological and carbon services in the western Ghats
01/03/2014 → 30/08/2016
Research
Third International Tropical Hydrology Workshop
01/06/2013 → 30/11/2013
Research
Diversity in Upland Rivers for Ecosystem Service Sustainability - DURESS
01/05/2012 → 30/06/2016
Research
Biodiversity and the water cycle
27/02/2012 → 15/07/2012
Research
Quantifying sensitivity of suspended sediment dynamics to environmental change within the upper Ramu
15/03/2009 → 14/03/2010
Research
- Improving global stewardship
- Innovation for a better environment
- Sustainable Catchments
- Understanding a changing planet
- Water Science