Dr Elizabeth Follett
Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research
Research Overview
Dr Follett aims to demonstrates the physical processes by which wood jams and vegetation affect flow, particle transport, and ecological health, improving design and assessment of nature-based solutions for climate adaptive water infrastructure. Nature-based solutions that improve resilience to increased incidence of drought and flooding associated with climate change have recently received increased public interest and investment. However, intervention efficacy and long-term stability remain limited by knowledge gaps relating to the effect of interventions on underlying physical processes and poor model representation. Through flume experiments, theoretical development, and collaborative fieldwork and modelling including knowledge transfer with government, industry, and community project partners, my research develops technical confidence needed to develop nature-based solutions as an engineering tool for climate change adaptation.
Structure and function of wood jams for natural flood management
Natural flood management practices, including engineered logjam installations, can promote floodwater storage and infiltration in upstream catchments, ehancing sediment storage and ecological resilience. Dr Follett's research considers the effects of engineered log jam installations on stream hydrodynamics and sediment transport in order to accurately assess the implications of natural flood management projects and guide management interventions.
Funding: Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship [2020-2025]
Sêr Cymru Industrial Fellowship [2020-2022]
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship [2018-2020]
The answer lies in the soil: Environmental resilience in rural Wales
Welsh farmers play a crucial role in sustaining ecosystem services of clean water, air and habitat provision, as well as food production. In addition to pressures to produce food cheaply, farmers are at serious risk due to the negative impacts of climate change, which is already increasing summer storm intensity and sediment runoff. Online and in-person workshops communicated basic mechanisms of sustainable farming actions and collected feedback from farmers on barriers to implementation, key decisionmaking points, and preferences for information delivery. Partnership with NFU Cymru, Nuffield Farming Trust Scholar Ms. Lorna Davis and designer Mrs. Penelope Turnbull, who is developing mosaic sculpture based on farmer-identified tensions and bilingual childrens' art tutorials.
Funding: NERC Wales Showcase 2021 [March-Nov 2021]https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/research/explore/find-a-project/view/2524217-environmental-resilience-for-water-in-wales
Particle transport in vegetated canopies
The feedbacks between plants, flow, and particle fate shape the size, shape, and resilience of vegetated regions, which provide key ecosystem services to the landscapes in which they reside. Vegetation acts as an ecosystem engineer by creating distinct regions of flow diversion, turbulent mixing, and quiescent flow, dependent upon canopy physical parameters. The density and extent of vegetated canopies alters the canopy mediated flow profile, in turn influencing particle transport. In order to predict the resilience and future growth of vegetation, it is necessary to consider particle transport in light of the canopy-mediated flow environment. Dr Follett's research considers particle fate and transport in emergent and submerged vegetated canopies through laboratory experiments and numerical modeling, connecting transport trends to the physical parameters governing the canopy mediated flow profile, as well as particle size and density.
Funding: U.S. National Science Foundation Grant No. AGS-1005480 (PI Professor Heidi Nepf)
EAR-0738352 (PI Professor Heidi Nepf)
Research Grants
CONVERSE: COmmuNity Vision for REsilient RiverScapEs
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL
November 2023 - September 2027
Hydraulic design of instream wood structures for flood risk management
ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING (UK)
January 2023 - August 2025