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Gemma Carr

Research Interests

•    Socio-hydrology, modelling coupled human-water systems.
•    Public and stakeholder participation in water resource management.
•    Water reuse, with a particular focus on irrigation and soil management.
•    Collaborative and interdisciplinary research and education in the water sciences.

Gemma’s current research interests are on interdisciplinary water research. She is particularly interested in coupled human-water systems, and using a socio-hydrological approach to explore how human responses to water related challenges such as floods, droughts and pollution generate long-term changes in how land and water systems are managed. Being part of the Doctoral Programme also gives her the opportunity to explore how interdisciplinary education and research develops and can be supported.

Key Facts

Gemma took on the role of coordinator of the Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems in 2009. She has a broad background and obtained a bachelors degree with honours in Geology and Physical Geography from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 2002. In 2004 she completed a Master of Science in Development and Environment at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her interest in water resources was developed during her Masters dissertation which examined the potential for rainwater harvesting in Nepal. After working for an environmental consultancy she took on a PhD in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Reading, UK and graduated in 2009. Her PhD thesis explored the interactions between soil sustainability and soil and water management when reclaimed water is used for irrigation in the Middle East. She particularly valued the opportunity to conduct extended periods of research fieldwork in Jordan.
 

Gemma has published 23 scientific articles in areas of water resource management covering water reuse, stakeholder participation, socio-hydrology and interdisciplinary research and education. She is Associate Editor for AQUA - Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society, Associate Editor for Frontiers in Water: Water and Human Systems and Special issue editor: Women in Science, Water and Human Systems. She is also guest editor for Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences (HESS) journal, Special Issue on Transdisciplinary approaches to hydrology and water resources management and Editorial Board Member for Environmental Research Communications. She is a co-convener for a session on transdisciplinarity in hydrology at the Annual Meeting of the European Geosciences Union, and an invited speaker at the 2017 Fall Meeting of the American Geosciences Union.