Staff Profile

Now a University Research Fellow in the School of Engineering, I have worked toward academic leadership since the early stages of my PhD – awarded in 2013 – on "Investigating the impacts of climate change on hydro-climatological variability and water resources in the Upper Indus Basin.” I have a track record of project management in technical capacity building and academic research. I am also an engineer with professional expertise spanning technical domains from infrastructure development to earth sciences (remote sensing, hydrological modelling, climate change impacts assessments), and institutional contexts including academic research, engineering consultancy and international development assistance.

Built upon a foundation of degrees in civil engineering (BSc Hons from University of Oklahoma in 2000) and water resources management (MSc from ENGREF/AgroParisTech in 2007) earned in three countries, my 18 years professional experience (5 years post-doctoral) have informed my vision for my research career to address the grand engineering challenges of our time, specifically the imperative for adaptive infrastructure and water resource management to forge a pathway over future climate obstacles to sustainably improve livelihoods. In particular, my pre-doctoral work on community-scale water infrastructure in developing countries has made me keenly aware of the compelling human need to bridge current divides between sophisticated hydro-climatological research and its practical applications at the local resource management level.

Area of expertise: hydrology; water resources; climate change; downscaling; remote sensing; community-based approaches for sustainable development

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• Forsythe N, Fowler HJ, Kilsby CG, Archer DR. Opportunities from remote sensing for supporting water resources management in village/valley scale catchments in the Upper Indus Basin. Water Resources Management 2012, 26(4), 845-871.
• Li X-F, Fowler HJ, Forsythe N, Blenkinsop S, Pritchard D. The Karakoram/Western Tibetan Vortex: seasonal and year-to-year variability. Climate Dynamics 2018, 51(9-10), 3883–3906.
• Forsythe N, Fowler HJ, Li XF, Blenkinsop S, Pritchard D. Karakoram temperature and glacial melt driven by regional atmospheric circulation variability. Nature Climate Change 2017, 7, 664-670.
• Walker D, Forsythe N, Parkin G, Gowing J. Filling the observational void: scientific value and quantitative validation of hydrometeorological data from a community‐based monitoring programme. Journal of Hydrology 2016, 538, 713-725.
• Forsythe N, Hardy AJ, Fowler HJ, Blenkinsop S, Kilsby CG, Archer DR, Hashmi MZ. A detailed cloud fraction climatology of the Upper Indus Basin and its implications for near surface air temperature. Journal of Climate 2015, 28(9), 3537-3556.
• Pepin N, Bradley RS, Diaz HF, Baraer M, Caceres EB, Forsythe N, Fowler H, Greenwood G, Hashmi MZ, Liu XD, Miller JR, Ning L, Ohmura A, Palazzi E, Rangwala I, Schöner W, Severskiy I, Shahgedanova M, Wang MB, Williamson SN, Yang DQ. Elevation-dependent warming in mountain regions of the world. Nature Climate Change 2015, 5(5), 424-430.
• Forsythe N, Blenkinsop S, Fowler HJ. Exploring objective climate classification for the Himalayan arc and adjacent regions using gridded data sources. Earth System Dynamics 2015, 6(1), 311-326.
• Forsythe N, Fowler HJ, Blenkinsop S, Burton A, Kilsby CG, Archer DR, Harpham C, Hashmi MZ. Application of a stochastic weather generator to assess climate change impacts in a semi-arid climate: The Upper Indus Basin. Journal of Hydrology 2014, 517, 1019-1034.
• Pereira R, Bovolo I, Forsythe N, Pedentchouk N, Parkin G, Wagner T. Seasonal patterns of rainfall and river isotopic chemistry in northern Amazonia (Guyana): From the headwater to the regional scale. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 2014, 52, 108-118.
• Sharif M, Archer DR, Fowler HJ, Forsythe ND. Trends in timing and magnitude of flow in the Upper Indus Basin. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2013, 17, 1503-1516.
• Forsythe N, Kilsby CG, Fowler HJ, Archer DR. Assessment of Runoff Sensitivity in the Upper Indus Basin to Interannual Climate Variability and Potential Change Using MODIS Satellite Data Products. Mountain Research and Development 2012, 32(1), 16-29.
• Archer DR, Forsythe N, Fowler HJ, Shah SM. Sustainability of water resources management in the Indus Basin under changing climatic and socio economic conditions. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2010, 14(8), 1669-1680.