51cg

Dr Sylvia Vetter

Dr Sylvia Vetter
Dr Sylvia Vetter
Dr Sylvia Vetter

Dr. rer. nat., FHEA

Advanced Research Fellow

Accepting PhDs

51cg
Email Address
sylvia.vetter@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address
1.09 Cruickshank Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
St. Machar Drive
AB24 3UU

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School/Department
School of Biological Sciences




Biography

Since 2012 Environmental Modelling Group, School of Biological Sciences, 51cg, UK

(Research Assistant 2012-2016, Research Fellow 2016-2021, Advanced Research Fellow since 2022) 

2024 Fellowship Advance Higher Education (FAHE) awarded

2016 Dissertation (equal to PhD), Chair of Meteorology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

Thesis title: “Carbon dioxide and water fluxes over semi-arid grassland in Inner Mongolia (China)”, Acquired Title: Dr. rer. nat.

2011 Scholarship holder ESF (European Science Foundation), 51cg, Scotland, UK

2008 – 2012 Chair of Meteorology, TU Dresden, Germany

2004 - 2005 Graduate Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden (ERASMUS)

2000 – 2007 Study of Hydrology, TU Dresden, Germany

Thesis: “Research of carbon and water budgets of pastured grassland in Bavaria based on EC data“, Degree: Dipl.-Hydrol. (equal to a master’s degree)

External Memberships

Editor in Chief -  

Editorial Board -  

 

Member of CFA Science Advisory Council -

 

Panel Member for the British Council - Natural Environment; ISPF Research Empowerment Programme; ISPF Research Capacity Strengthening programme -

 

Expert reviewer for Royal Academy of Engineering (Green Future Fellowships)

Expert reviewer for NSERC-SSHRC (Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative)

Expert reviewer for NERC (Pushing the Frontiers)

Expert reviewer for JPI climate 

Expert reviewer for The Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia

Expert reviewer for XPRICE - Carbon Removal

 

Research

Research Overview

My research interests evolve around climate change and understanding the impacts of human activities on the environment, specifically emitted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture, grasslands and land use change, impacts on soil (soil organic carbon, soil health) and possible mitigation options (including biochar).

My work includes modelling GHG emissions from agriculture and explore mitigation options by using and developing easy to use tools like the Cool Farm Tool (developed for the use of farmers, ) and the CCAFS-MOT (developed for policy advisors, ) and processed based modelling with ECOSSE and DailyDayCent.

I am also interested in eddy covariance (EC) measurements of different environments. I looking after a measurement campaign, analysing and preparing the data (including meteorological parameters) and analysing and modelling water fluxes (ET and soil water).

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Biological and Environmental Sciences.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Biological and Environmental Sciences

  • Accepting PhDs

Current Research

LUNZ Footprint - 2050 Greenhouse Gas Accounting Living Lab (UKRI) -  

Climateflation: Adapting to climate-induced food price shocks in the UK (UKRI) -

OGCR: Intergenerational Open Geospatial Carbon Registry - Open-Source Tools for Connecting EU Agricultural Policies (CAP) and Carbon Removal Credits (CRCF) and mandatory Carbon Markets (Horizon Europe) –

PEATFLUX+ Monitoring & modelling to underpin effective management of commercial forestry to peatland restoration for climate mitigation through greenhouse gas, hydrology, peat microbiome and LCA analysis (DEFRA)

Power of the Pea (funded by Birds Eye) - Research on how pea crops impact soil health

Past Research

2022 - 2025 Greenhouse Gases Removal Demonstrator (GGR-D) projects (BBSRC funded) - Greenhouse gas removal with UK agriculture via enhanced rock weathering (GGR-D ERW) -

2021 - 2022 AFRICAP (GCRF funded) - Agriculture and Food-Systems resilience: increasing capacity and advising policy - 

2019 -2021 Soils-R-GGREAT (NERC) - Soils Research to deliver Greenhouse Gas REmovals and Abatement Technologies; The project explores soils and biochar to provide a comprehensive global assessment of soil based greenhouse gas removals (GGRs) - 

2021 Pathways to net zero (WWF funded) - Developing WWF’s preferred pathway to aligning UK agriculture and land use with net zero -  

2021 New Crops and Model Comparison for Cool Farm Tool (CoolFarmAliance) -

2016-2019 BALI (NERC) - A Multidisciplinary Consortium Exploring the Biogeochemical Impacts of Tropical Forest Degradation, Agricultural Conversion and Biodiversity Loss ()

2015-2016 Mitigation potential in Indian agriculture (CIMMYT) – based on Indian agriculture the GHG emissions and SOC changes were calculated spatially and possible mitigation potential estimates

2015-2016 GHG emissions of Indian diets (WELCOME Trust) – based on Indian agriculture the GHG emissions were calculated for typical Indian diets, environmental impacts were analysed and the consequences of a changing diet explored

2014-2015 CCAFS-MOT (CCAFS) - Development of a greenhouse gas mitigation option tool for agricultural management ()

2013-2014 Climate change mitigation in African countries (FAO) – the mitigation potential of agricultural activities were calculated spatially for Malawi, Viet Nam and Zambia

2013 GHGs for agriculture in UK (SEER - Social, Economic and Environmental Research project) - Simulations of GHG with the Cool Farm Tool for agriculture in UK

2012 Cotton in India (WWF) – estimating GHG emissions and climate change mitigation opportunities in cotton cultivation in India with the Cool Farm Tool

2008 – 2012 Eddy covariance (EC) measurements of differently grazed grasslands in Inner Mongolia (China) in the projects MAGIM and IWAS

MAGIM - funded by the German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) as part of the Research Unit 536 Matter fluxes in grasslands of Inner Mongolia as influenced by stocking rate (MAGIM)

IWAS – funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) as part of the project International Water Research Alliance Saxony (IWAS)

Datasets

  • ECOSSE: Model to Estimate Carbon in Organic Soils - Sequestration and Emissions

    The purpose of this software is to simulate the effects of climate and land-use on soil carbon and nitrogen. It includes physical, biogeochemical and chemical processes in mineral and organic soils.
    DOI
    Publisher
    51cg
    Date Made Available
    17 September 2026
    Related Research Outputs
    Contributors
    Dondini, M. (Creator), Smith, J. (Rights Holder), Martin, M. (Data Manager), Richards, M. (Creator), Kuhnert, M. (Creator), Abdalla, M. (Creator), Vetter, S. (Other), McCalmont, J. (Other)
  • Modelled global soil carbon change based on different management and climate scenarios from 2030 to 2100

    The data set shows the modelled change of soil organic carbon under different managements in agriculture for different climate scenarios globally. Dataset includes the change to a business as usual scenario for different soil managements for each decade from 2030 to 2100. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P019455/1)
    DOI
    Publisher
    NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
    Date Made Available
    02 January 2024
    Contributors
    Aitkenhead, M. (Creator), Dondini, M. (Creator), Eory, V. (Creator), Goglio, P. (Creator), Harris, J. (Creator), Hillier, J. (Creator), House, J. (Creator), Lefebrve, D. (Creator), MacLeod, M. (Creator), Manning, D. (Creator), Medina-Carmona, C. (Creator), Mohamed-Yunus, S. (Creator), Moran, D. (Creator), Myrgiotis, V. (Creator), Payen, F. (Creator), Rees, B. (Creator), Sohi, S. (Creator), Sykes, A. (Creator), Williams, M. (Creator), Williams, A. (Creator), Wollenberg, L. (Creator), Smith, P. (Creator), Vetter, S. (Contributor)
  • Shortlist of soil-based greenhouse gas removal practices selected following consideration of biophysical, economic and social impacts

    The provided data presents a list of greenhouse gas removal practices for soil organic carbon sequestration, which are suitable under biophysical, economic and social consideration. The list is the result of the first step in analysing the potential of agricultural soils to sequester carbon globally and is part of the NERC funded project Soils-R-GGREAT (NE/P019455/1). The work is based on literature research and expert panel and judgements. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P019455/1)
    DOI
    Publisher
    NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
    Date Made Available
    05 October 2022
    Contributors
    Sykes, A. (Creator), Vetter, S. (Creator), Aitkenhead, M. (Creator), Dondini, M. (Creator), Eory, V. (Creator), Goglio, P. (Creator), Harris, J. (Creator), Hillier, J. (Creator), House, J. (Creator), Lefebrve, D. (Creator), MacLeod, M. (Creator), Manning, D. (Creator), Medina-Carmona, C. (Creator), Mohamed-Yunus, S. (Creator), Moran, D. (Creator), Myrgiotis, V. (Creator), Payen, F. (Creator), Rees, B. (Creator), Sohi, S. (Creator), Williams, M. (Creator), Williams, A. (Creator), Wollenberg, L. (Creator), Smith, P. (Creator)
Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

Contributions to the following courses:

BI1511: Ecology and Environmental Science

EK3307/EK5307: Catchment Management

BI4301/BI5301: Environmental Pollution

 

Supervision:

Supervisor of PhD student 

Supervisor of Master projects

Supervisor of Honours projects

Supervisor of Honours Essay Course

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Guest lecture at Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany:

Contribution to the master course Bioenergy coordinated by Prof John Clifton-Brown; 2 lectures and a computer practice about greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, the carbon calculator Cool Farm Tool and mitigation potential through bioenergy

Publications

Page 1 of 4 Results 1 to 10 of 40

  • Is Soil Carbon Sequestration Overestimated in Carbon Footprint Accounting?

    Giuliani, L. M., Vetter, S. H., Smith, P.
    Carbon Footprints, vol. 5, 37
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Land use and the global carbon cycle

    Vetter, S.
    Agriculture, land use and the path to net zero. Rees, B., Eivind Olesen, J. (eds.). Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Larger rock extraction sites could improve the efficiency of enhanced rock weathering in the United Kingdom

    Madankan, M., Kantzas, E. P., Espinosa, R. M. E., Vetter, S., Koh, L., Smith, P., Beerling, D. J., Renforth, P.
    Communications Earth & Environment, vol. 6, 666
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Climate extremes, food price spikes, and their wider societal risks

    Kotz, M., Donat, M. G., Lancaster, T., Parker, M., Smith, P., Taylor, A., Vetter, S. H.
    Environmental Research Letters, vol. 20, no. 8, 081001
    Contributions to Journals: Letters
  • Assessing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from 15 sugar cane farms in Karvir taluka, India using the cool farm tool

    Adeel, A., Smith, P., Vetter, S. H., Otari, S. S., Jadhav, A. S.
    Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. e14612
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • How to make land use policy decisions: Integrating science and economics to deliver connected climate, biodiversity and food objectives

    Bateman, I., Binner, A. R., Addicott, E., Balmford, B., Cho, F., Daily, G., De-Gol, A., Eisenbarth, S., Faccioli, M., Ferguson-Gow, H., Fezzi, C., Ferrini, S., Gannon, K., Groom, B., Harper., A., Harwood, A., Hillier, J., Hulme, M., Lee, C., Lovett, A., Liuzzo, L., Matthews, R., Mancini, M., Morison, J., Owen, N., Pearson, R., Polasky, S., Siriwardena, G., Smith, P., Snowdon, P., Tippett, P., Vetter, S., Vinjili,, S., Vossler, C., Watson, R., Williamson, D., Day, B.
    PNAS, vol. 121, no. 49, e2407961121
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • A comparative life cycle assessment of the synthesis of mesoporous silica materials at small and large scale.

    Ros-Lis, J. V., Vetter, S., Smith, P.
    Green Chemistry, vol. 26, no. 19, pp. 10107-10114
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Assessing Life Cycle Methods for scalable Carbon Dioxide Removal

    Butnar, I., Lynch, J., Vetter, S., Gamaralalage, D., Tang, D., Tang, Y., McKechnie, J., Foteinis, S., Rodway-Dyer, S., Röder, M., Sogbesan, S., Hastings, A., Renforth, P., Brander, M., House, J.
    International Conference on Negative CO₂ Emissions 2024
    Contributions to Conferences: Abstracts
  • Biological Carbon Sequestration Technologies

    Vetter, S., Kuhnert, M., Smith, P.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
  • Stakeholder-driven transformative adaptation is needed for climate-smart nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa

    Jennings, S., Jennings, S., Smith, P., Macdiarmid, J., Pope, E., Chapman, S., Bradshaw, C., Clark, H., Vetter, S., Fitton, N., King, R., Mwamakamba, S., Madzivhandila, T., Mashingaidze, I., Chomba, C., Nawiko, M., Mazibuko, N., Yeki, P., Kuwali, P., Kambwiri, A., Kazi, V., Kiama, A., Songole, A., Coskeran, H., Quinn, C., Sallu, S., Dougill, A. J., Whitfield, S., Kunin, B., Meebelo, N., Jamali, A., Kantande, D., Makundi, P., Mbungu, W., Kayula, F., Walker, S., Zimba, S., Galani Yamdeu, J. H., Kapulu, N. P., Valadares Galdos, M., Eze, S., Tripathi Tripathi, H., Sait, S. M., Kepinski, S., Likoya, E., Greathead, H. M., Smith, H. E., Tonye Mahop, M., Harwatt, H., Muzammil, M., Horgan, G., Benton, T.
    Nature Food, vol. 5, pp. 37-47
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
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