My current research focuses on three main areas

(i) The hydrological, geomorphological and geochemical responses of the land surface to extreme events such as wildfires, droughts and high-intensity rainstorms. Ongoing work includes, for example, the role of wildfire severity on (a) hydro-geomorphological responses and (b) carbon fluxes in burnt catchments in the Mediterranean, North America and Australia.

(ii) The origin and environmental consequences of soil water repellency (or in extreme cases super-hydrophobicity). Applied aspects of this work aim at (a) predicting and quantifying the contribution of soil water repellency to flood events as well as to inefficient irrigation in temperate and Mediterranean regions and (b) elucidating the physical and chemical causes of super-hydrophobic behaviour of porous materials including the mechanisms underlying the transitions between hydrophobic and hydrophilic conditions.

(iii) The development of karst and pseudokarst landforms and hydrology under current and past climatic conditions. Ongoing work focuses on the interactions between climate change and karst development in some of the world's largest carbonate platforms (Nullarbor Plain, Australia and Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico).

External responsibilities

Editor in Chief International Journal of Wildland Fire

Chair European Geosciences Union Soil System Science Division

Internal responsibilities

Leader Environmental Dynamics Research Group

Leader Soil Hydrophobicity Research Team

Member School Research Committee

Organiser Departmental Research Seminar Series

Manager Physical Geography Laboratory Facilities

Selected Projects

• DESIRE: Desertification Mitigation and Remediation of Degraded Land. FP6-Integrated Project. The project aims to establish the most beneficial land use and management strategies in 16 degradation and desertification hotspots around the globe. A key focus at Swansea will be evaluating effects of, and developing land management strategies following, wildfire.
• Fundamental controls on soil hydrophobic behaviour: addressing the critical soil particle scale. Collaborative NERC project with the Pan Wales Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology centre, focusing on the novel application of Atomic Force Microscopy to elucidate nano-scale properties of soil surface particles in relation to bulk soil behaviour.
• Erosional consequences of different fire intensities of fire-induced water repellency in the Sydney forest fires region. NERC Urgency Project in collaboration with R. Shakesby, W. Blake (Plymouth), P. Wallbrink (CSIRO, Canberra) & K. Tomkins (Macquarie University, Sydney).
• WATER REUSE: Sustainable waste water recycling technologies for irrigated land in NIS and Southern European States. FP6-INCO-NIS Project with field sites in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Greece. One of our main activities at Swansea is to examine the changes in soil organic carbon and organic matter characteristics following irrigation with associated impacts on water use efficiency.
• Wetting agent effects on water repellency and turfgrass performance in sandy soils. Industry funded(Aquatrols, USA)
• Nullarbor Speleogenesis. Palaeoenvironmental/geomorphological research project examining the extent of speleogenesis in relation to past climate change in the Nullarbor Plain, Australia using geophysical, micro-climatological and geochemical techniques. Funded by the RGS and BCRA in collaboration with R.Davies (Victoria University, New Zealand) and Australian partners (CEGSA).
• Development of cavernous porosity in the accretionary margin of an attached carbonate platform, Caribbean coast, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Royal Geographical Society funded project coordinated by P. Smart, Geography Department, University of Bristol.

Selected ISI Journal Papers (for full list click here)

1.    Atanassova, A. & Doerr, S.H. (2010) Organic compounds of different extractability in total solvent extracts from soils of contrasting water repellency. European Journal of Soil Science (in press)

2.    Blake, W.H., Wallbrink, P.J. Wilkinson, S., Humphreys, G.S., Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A. & Tomkins K. (2009) Deriving hillslope sediment budgets in wildfire-affected forests using fallout radionuclide tracers. Geomorphology, 104, 105-116. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.08.004)  

3.    Czachor, H., Doerr, S.H. & Lichner, L. (2009) Water retention of repellent and subcritical repellent soils: new insights from model and experimental investigations. Journal of Hydrology (available online) (doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.10.027)   

4.    Cheng, S., Bryant, R., Doerr, S.H., Wright, C.J. & Williams R. (2009) Investigation of physico-chemical surface properties of soil particles and model materials with contrasting hydrophobicity using atomic force microscopy. Environmental Science and Technology, 43 (17), 6500–6506. (doi: 10.1021/es900158y)

5.    Doerr, S.H., Woods, S.M., Martin, M.D. & Casimiro, M. (2009) 'Natural background' soil water repellency in conifer forests of the north-western USA: its prediction and relationship to wildfire occurrence. Journal of Hydrology, 371, 12-21. (doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.03.011)

6.    Wilkinson S.N., Wallbrink, P.J., Hancock, G.J., Blake, W.H., Shakesby, R.A. & Doerr, S.H. (2009) Fallout radionuclide tracers identify a switch in sediment sources and transport-limited sediment yield following wildfire in a eucalypt forest. Geomorphology, 114, 140-151. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.04.001)

7.    Cerda, A. & Doerr, S.H.  (2008) The effect of ash and needle cover on surface runoff and erosion in the immediate post-fire period. Catena, 74, 256-263. (doi: 10.1016/j.catena.2008.03.010)

8.    Cheng, S., Bryant, R., Doerr, S.H., Williams, P.R. & Wright, C.J. (2008) Application of Atomic Force Microscopy to the study of natural and model soil particles. Journal of Microscopy, 231(3), 384-395. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2818.2008.02051.x)

9.    Dlapa, P., Šimkovic, I., Doerr, S.H., Kanka, R. & Mataix-Solera, J. (2008) Application of thermal analyses to elucidate changes to water repellency in soils exposed to different temperatures. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2, 1-10. (doi:10.2136/sssaj2006.0280)

10.    Keizer, J.J., Doerr, S.H., Malvar, M.C., Prats, S.A., Oñate, M.G., Coelho, C.O.A. & Ferreira A.J.D. (2008) Temporal variation in topsoil water repellency in two recently burnt eucalypt stands in north-central Portugal. Catena, 74, 192-204. (doi:10.1016/j.catena.2008.01.004)

11.    Šimkovic I., Dlapa, P., Doerr, S.H. Mataix-Solera, J. & Sasinková, V. (2008). Thermal destruction of soil water repellency and associated changes to soil organic matter as observed by FTIR spectroscopy. Catena, 74, 205-211.  (doi:10.1016/j.catena.2008.03.003)

12.    Tomkins K.M., Humphreys, G.S., Gero, A.F., Shakesby, R.A., Doerr, S.H., Wallbrink, P.J. & Blake, W.H. (2008) Post-wildfire hydrological response in an ENSO dominated environment. Journal of Geophysical Research 113, F02023. (doi:10.1029/2007JF000853)

13.    Blake, W.H., Droppo, I.G., Doerr, S.H., Humphreys, G.S., Shakesby, R.A., Wallbrink, P.J. (2007). Structural characteristics and behaviour of fire-modified soil aggregates. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, F02020. (doi: 10.1029/2006JF000660)

14.    Bryant, R., Doerr, S.H., Hunt, G. & Conan, S. (2007). Effects of compaction on soil surface water repellency. Soil Use and Management, 24, 228-234.  (doi: 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2007.00088.x)

15.    Cerda, A. & Doerr, S.H. (2007) Soil wettability, runoff and erosion responses for major dry-Mediterranean land use types on calcareous soils. Hydrological Processes, 21, 2325–2336. (doi: 10.1002/hyp.6755)

16.    Doerr, S.H., Scott, D.F., Dekker, L.W., Ritsema, C.J. & Carter, D. (2007) Water repellence of soils: new insights and emerging research needs. Hydrological Processes, 21, 2223–2228. (doi: 10.1002/hyp)

17.    Douglas, P., Mainwaring, K.A., Morley, C.P. & Doerr, S.H. (2007) The relationship between the kinetics and energetics of soil water repellency: application of the Arrhenius equation to WDPT and MED. Hydrological Processes, 21, 2248-2254. (doi: 10.1002/hyp.6747)

18.    Keizer, J.J., Doerr, S.H., Malvar, M.C., Ferreira, A.J.D. & Pereira, V.M.F.G. (2007) Temporal and spatial variation in topsoil water repellency throughout a crop-rotation cycle on sandy soil. Hydrological Processes 21, 2317–2324. (doi: 10.1002/hyp.6756)

19.    Leighton-Boyce, G., Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A. & Walsh, R.D.P. (2007) Quantifying the impact of soil water repellency on overland flow generation and erosion: a new approach using rainfall simulation and wetting agents on in situ soils. Hydrological Processes, 21, 2337–2345. (doi: 10.1002/hyp.6744)

20.    McHale, G., Shirtcliffe, N.J., Newton, M.I., Pyatt, B.F. & Doerr, S.H. (2007) Self-organisation of hydrophobic soil and granular surfaces. Applied Physics Letters, 90(5), Art. No. 054110. (doi: 10.1063/1.2435594)

21.    Shakesby, R.A., Wallbrink, P.J., Doerr, S.H., English, P.M., Chafer, C., Humphreys, G.S., Blake, W.H. & Tomkins K.M. (2007) Distinctiveness of wildfire effects on soil erosion in south-east Australian eucalypt forests assessed in a global context. Forest Ecology and Management, 238, 347–364.  (doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2006.10.029)

22.    Tomkins K.M., Humphreys, G.S., Wilkinson, M.T., Fink, D., Hesse, P.P., Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A., Wallbrink, P.J. & Blake, W.H. (2007) Contemporary versus long-term denudation along a passive plate margin, Australia: the role of extreme events. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32, 1013–1031. (doi: 10.1002/esp.1460)

23.    Blake, W.H., Wallbrink, P.J., Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A. & Humphreys G.S. (2006) Magnetic enhancement in wildfire-affected soil and its potential for sediment-source ascription. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 31(2), 249-264. (doi: 10.1002/esp.1247)

24.    Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A., Dekker, L.W. & Ritsema, C.J. (2006) Occurrence, prediction and hydrological effects of water repellency amongst major soil and land use types in a humid temperate climate. European Journal of Soil Science, 57, 741–754. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2389. 006. 0818.x)

25.    Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A., Blake, W.H., Humphreys, G.S., Chafer, C. & Wallbrink, P.J. (2006) Effects of contrasting wildfire severity on soil wettability in Australian eucalypt catchments. Journal of Hydrology, 319, 295-311. (doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.06.038)

26.    Lichner L., Dlapa, P., Doerr, S.H. & Mataix-Solera, J. (2006) Evaluation of different clay mineralogies as additives for soil water repellency alleviation. Applied Clay Science, 31, 238-248. (doi: 10.1016 /j.clay.2005.10.012)

27.    Shakesby, R.A. & Doerr, S.H. (2006) Wildfire as a hydrological and geomorphological agent. Earth-Science Reviews, 74, 269-307.  (doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2005.10.006). [10th most downloaded paper from ESR; 2008 impact factor: 6.56]

28.    Shirtcliffe, N.J., McHale, G., Pyatt F.B., Newton, M.I. & Doerr, S.H. (2006) Critical conditions for the wetting of soils. Applied Physics Letters, 89, Art. No. 094101. (doi: 10.1063/1.2339072) [2008 Impact factor: 3.73]

29.    Bryant, R., Doerr, S.H. & Helbig, M. (2005) Effect of oxygen deprivation on soil hydrophobicity during heating. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 14(4), 449-455. Feature Paper of this issue on IJWF website.

30.    Cerda, A. & Doerr, S.H. (2005) Influence of vegetation recovery on soil hydrology and erodibility following fire: an eleven-year investigation. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 14(4), 423-437.

31.    Doerr S.H. & Cerda, A. (2005) Fire effects on soil system functioning: new insights and future challenges. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 14(4), 339-342.

32.    Doerr, S.H., Douglas, P., Evans, R., Morley, C.P., Mullinger, N., Bryant, R. & Shakesby, R.A. (2005) Effects of heating and post-heating equilibration times on soil water repellency. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43(3), 261-267.

33.    Doerr, S.H., Llewellyn, C.T., Douglas, P., Morley, C.P., Mainwaring, K.A., Haskins, C., Johnsey, L., Ritsema, C.J., Stagnitti, F., Allinson, G., Ferreira, A.J.D., Keizer, J.J., Ziogas, A.K. & Diamantis, J. (2005) Extraction of compounds associated with water repellency in sandy soils of different origin. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43(3), 225-237.  Feature Paper of this issue on AJSR website.

34.    Keizer, J.J., Ferreira, A.J.D., Coelho, C.O.A., Doerr, S.H., Malvar, M.C., Domingues, C.S.P., Perez, I.M.B, Ruiz C. & Ferrari K. (2005) The role of tree stem proximity in the spatial variability of soil water repellency in a eucalypt plantation in coastal Portugal.  Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43(3), 251-259.

35.    Leighton-Boyce, G., Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A., Walsh, R.P.D., Ferreira, A.J.D., Boulet, A.K. & Coelho, C.O.A. (2005) Temporal dynamics of water repellency and soil moisture in eucalypt plantations, Portugal. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43(3), 269-280.

36.    Morley, C.P., Mainwaring, K.A., Doerr, S.H., Douglas, P., Llewellyn, C.T. & Dekker, L.W. (2005) Identification of organic compounds at different depths in a water repellent soil. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43(3), 239-249.

37.    Xiong, X., Stagnitti, F., Allinson, G., Turoczy, N., Li, P., LeBlanc, M., Cann, M.A., Doerr, S.H., Steenhuis, T.S, Parlange, J.-Y., de Rooij, G., Ritsema, C.J. & Dekker, L.W. (2005) Effects of clay amendment on adsorption and desorption of copper in water repellent soils Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43(3), 397-402.