Toshie Mizunuma

I am a third year PhD student of Ecological Science in the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh, studying the seasonal change or phenology of forest to understand the spatial and temporal changes in the carbon cycle.

After some 20 years work in Tokyo as a software engineer of business applications, I came to the United Kingdom in 2006 to fulfill a longtime desire of devoting myself to something for wildlife. Firstly I studied Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia. Then, narrowed the area down to Forest Ecology, I did MSc degree in Forest GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh.

The length of the growing season of trees is an important variable, as it is increasing significantly under global warming and represents a key constraint on primary productivity.  My current project is the research into variations in forest canopy phenology, using innovative webcam techniques to study ecosystem CO₂ sequestration.

In the future, I would like to work as a researcher for the study of temperate and boreal forests in one of research organisations in Japan, United Kingdom or the other countries.

Supervisors

1. Professor Maurizio Mencuccini, University of Edinburgh
2. Professor John Grace, University of Edinburgh
3. Dr Caroline Nichol, University of Edinburgh