Staff Profile | School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

Biographical Sketch

I am a soil scientist and ecosystem ecologist studying the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and other elements in terrestrial and near-coastal environments. I am interested in understanding how human activity, functional biodiversity and environmental variability interact to influence ecosystem structure and function. My research group is highly inter- and multi-disciplinary in nature, drawing from knowledge and expertise in soil science, ecology, microbiology, plant physiology, atmospheric chemistry, biometeorology, remote sensing and process-based modelling. My current research efforts are focused on human-modified tropical forests, agro-ecosystems and peatlands in Southeast Asia and Africa, although I have worked in a range of different regions and biomes in the past, including temperate rice systems in Europe, temperate peatlands, coastal salt marshes, tropical forests in the Caribbean and South America, arid grasslands and Arctic tundra.

Qualifications

PhD University of California at Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 1999-2005

BA (Hons) with Distinction University of California at Berkeley, Department of Integrative Biology, 1994-1998

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK, 2016

Academic Posts

Professor of Soil Science Newcastle University, June 2019 to present

Reader in Biogeochemistry University of Aberdeen, August 2017-May 2019

Senior Lecturer in Soil Biogeochemistry University of Aberdeen, June 2013-July 2017

SAGES Lecturer in the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle University of St Andrews, October 2007-May 2013

Postdoctoral Scholar University of California at Berkeley, 2005-2007

External Service

Associate Editor for Ecology and Evolution, 2014-present

Associate Editor for Plant Ecology and Diversity, 2018-present

Guest Editor for Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 2018-present

Member of NERC Peer Review College, 2012-present

Related Websites:

If you are interested in learning more about research in my group, please take a look at the following websites:

NERC Human-modified Tropical Forest Programme: http://nerc-hmtf.info

NERC-funded Biodiversity And Land-use Impacts on tropical ecosystem function (BALI) Consortium: http://bali.nerc-hmtf.info

NERC-funded Global Methane (MOYA) consortium: https://moya.blogs.bris.ac.uk

Research

Research Interests

Biogeochemistry, global change, tropical forest science, ecological impacts of land-use change, sustainable land management

Research Grants (2007 to present)

Woodland Trust Small Grant: “Unravelling re- and de-forestation impacts on carbon capture in limestone catchment areas,” 2021-present; Award: £19.5K; PI: M. Rogerson (Northumbria); Co-Is: M. Prendergast-Miller (Northumbria), Y.A. Teh, D. Rempe (University of Texas), P. Mann (Northumbria), V. Ersek (Northumbria)

Pitch-IN Fund: “Hinterland4.0: From Smart Cities to Smart Regions,” 2020-2021; Award: £200K; PI: P. James. Co-Is: Y.A. Teh, L. Smith, J. Joncyzk

ClimateXChange: Synthesizing evidence of forest-to-bog restoration impacts on carbon emissions, 2018-2019; Award: £21K; R Artz (PI, James Hutton Institute); R Andersen (PI, University of Highlands and Islands; J-A Subke (PI, Stirling), N Cowie (RSPB), YA Teh (Aberdeen), TC Hill (Exeter), S Govan (ClimateXChange) and S Marks (The Scottish Government)

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB): Ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics of tropical peatlands, phase 2, 2017-2020; Award:MYR7.5M (~£1.37M); YA Teh (PI), LK Khoo (PI; MPOB), TC Hill (PI, Exeter), Mohd Haniff Harun (Co-I; MPOB), Hj. Mohd Roslan Md Noor (Co-I; MPOB) & Zulkifli Hashim (Co-I; MPOB)

NERC Highlight Topic: The Global Methane Cycle, 2016-2020; Award: £4M; E. Nisbet (PI; Royal Holloway University of London), YA Teh (Co-I), J. Smith (Aberdeen), S Waldron (Glasgow) and 40 other investigators.

NERC Capital Investment: Mobile isotope and greenhouse gas laboratory, 2016-2018; Award: £500K; YA Teh (PI), D. Johnson (Aberdeen), J. Barlow (Lancaster), R. Ewers (Imperial College), C. Joly (State University of Campinas, Brazil), O. Lewis (Oxon), Y. Malhi (Oxon), G. Reynolds (South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme)

NERC Human-modified Tropical Forests Programme: Programme Management Grant, 2014-2018;Award: Approx. £1M; YA Teh (PI), J. Barlow (Lancaster), R. Ewers (Imperial College), C. Joly (State University of Campinas, Brazil), O. Lewis (Oxon), Y. Malhi (Oxon), G. Reynolds (South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme)

FACCE-ERA-NET Program: GreenRice – Sustainable and environmental friendly rice cultivation systems in Europe, 2014-2018; Award: €2.13M (~£1.7M); B. Courtois (PI, CIRAD France); V. Giampiero (Co-I, CRA Italy); B. San Segundo (Co-I, CRAG Spain); A. Price (PI, Aberdeen), Y.A. Teh (Co-I, Aberdeen), P. Bonfante (Co-I, Università degli Studi di Torino) & 4 other investigators

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB): Ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics of tropical peatlands, phase 1, 2014-2017; Award:MYR6.52M (~£1.24M); YA Teh (PI), LK Khoo (PI, MPOB), TC Hill (PI, St Andrews), Mohd Haniff Harun (Co-I, MPOB), Hj. Mohd Roslan Md Noor (Co-I, MPOB) & Zulkifli Hashim (Co-I, MPOB)

NERC Human-modified Tropical Forests Programme: Biodiversity And Land-useImpacts on Tropical Ecosystem Function (BALI) Consortium, 2013-2019; Award:£5.2M; YA Teh (PI), D Burslem (Co-I), P Smith (Co-I) & 14 other investigators.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB): The effects of forest to bog restoration on carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour fluxes in Flow Country peatlands, 2012-2015; Award: £30K; TC Hill (PI, St Andrews), YA Teh(Co-I), J Moncrieff (Edinburgh), P Levy (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and N Cowie (RSPB)

NERC Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability Programme: A hierarchical approach to the examination of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem service flows across coastal margins (CBESS), 2012-2016;Award:£3.2M; DM Paterson (PI, St Andrews), YA Teh (Co-I)& the CBESS Consortium

NERC Responsive Mode: Amazonian peatlands: A potentially important but poorly characterized source of atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide, 2011-2014; Award:£67K; YA Teh (PI), S Page (Co-I, Leicester) & JC Berrio (Co-I, Leicester)

NERC Responsive Mode: Are tropical uplands regional hotspots for methane and nitrous oxide? 2010-2015; Award:£990K; YA Teh (PI), P Smith (Co-I, Aberdeen), E Baggs (Co-I Aberdeen) & P. Meir (Co-I, Edinburgh)

NERC Responsive Mode: Quantifying event-driven methane fluxes from northern peatlands using a novel automated flux chamber technique, 2010-2012; Award:£82K; YA Teh (PI), P Ineson (CoI, York) & J-A Subke (Co-I, Stirling)

NERC UKPopNet Programme: Biophysical drivers of methane ebullition in northern peatlands, 2009-2010; Award:£116K; YA Teh(PI), AJ Baird (Co-I Leeds), ERC Hornibrook (Co-I, Bristol), P Ineson (Co-I, York), K Redeker (York) & J-A Subke (York)

Publications

Manning FC, Kho LK, Hill TC, Cornulier T, Teh YA. Carbon Emissions From Oil Palm Plantations on Peat Soil. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2019, 2, 1-21.
Hambley G, Andersen R, Levy P, Saunders M, Cowie NR, Teh YA, Hill TC. Net ecosystem exchange from two formerly afforested peatlands undergoing restoration in the Flow Country of northern Scotland. Mires and Peat 2019, 23, 1-14.
Ashton LA, Griffiths HM, Parr CL, Evans TA, Didham RK, Hasan F, Teh YA, Tin HS, Vairappan CS, Eggleton P. Termites mitigate the effects of drought in tropical rainforest. Science 2019, 363(6423), 174-177.
Jucker T, Asner GP, Dalponte M, Brodrick PG, Philipson CD, Vaughn NR, Arn Teh Y, Brelsford C, Burslem DFRP, Deere NJ, Ewers RM, Kvasnica J, Lewis SL, Malhi Y, Milne S, Nilus R, Pfeifer M, Phillips OL, Qie L, Renneboog N, Reynolds G, Riutta T, Struebig MJ, Svatek M, Turner EC, Coomes DA. Estimating aboveground carbon density and its uncertainty in Borneo's structurally complex tropical forests using airborne laser scanning. Biogeosciences 2018, 15(12), 3811-3830.
Cook S, Whelan MJ, Evans CD, Gauci V, Peacock M, Garnett MH, Kho LK, Teh YA, Page SE. Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland. Biogeosciences 2018, 15(24), 7435-7450.
Riutta T, Malhi Y, Kho LK, Marthews TR, Huasco WH, Khoo M, Tan S, Turner E, Reynolds G, Both S, Burslem D, Teh YA, Vairappan CS, Majalap N, Ewers RM. Logging disturbance shifts net primary productivity and its allocation in Bornean tropical forests. Global Change Biology 2018, 24(7), 2913-2928.
Subke JA, Moody CS, Hill TC, Voke N, Toet S, Ineson P, Teh YA. Rhizosphere activity and atmospheric methane concentrations drive variations of methane fluxes in a temperate forest soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 2018, 116, 323-332.
Diem T, Morley NJ, Ccahuana Quispe AJ, Huaraca Quispe LP, Baggs EM, Meir P, Richards MIA, Smith P, Teh YA. Complex controls on nitrous oxide flux across a large-elevation gradient in the tropical Peruvian Andes. Biogeosciences 2017, 14, 5077-5097.
Yang WH, McNicol G, Teh YA, Estera-Molina K, Wood TE, Silver WL. Evaluating the Classical Versus an Emerging Conceptual Model of Peatland Methane Dynamics. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2017, 31(9), 1435-1453.
Teh YA, Murphy WA, Berrio JC, Boom A, Page SE. Seasonal variability in methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from tropical peatlands in the western Amazon basin. Biogeosciences 2017, 14, 3669-3683.

Professor Yit Arn Teh

Professor of Soil Science