Dr Rebecca Varney
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (LUISA project)
Physical Geography
Overview
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Enviroment, Science and Economy. I am part of the ESA LUISA and CALISPO projects with Prof. Stephen Sitch, Dr Nina Raoult and Prof. Pierre Friedlingstein. My research focus is on using data assimilation techniques with the UK Land Suface Model JULES to improve the representation of vegetation under climate extremes.
Previously, I was part of the 4C project working with Prof. Peter Cox and Prof. Pierre Friedlingstein on emergent constraints on carbon and biogeochemical feedbacks under climate change. In 2022, I completed my PhD at the University of Exeter with Prof. Peter Cox and Dr Sarah Chadburn, where my research focused on understanding the response of soil carbon to climate change, with a specific aim to quantify and reduce the uncertainty associated with future Earth system model projections within CMIP.
XCS Seminar Coordinator
I am the coordinator of internal Exeter Climate Systems (XCS) seminars here at Exeter, which run on Friday's during term time. Please do not hesitate to email me if you are interested in giving a seminar or would like any further information.
Women in Climate
I am a committee member of the Women in Climate Network (WiC). WiC is a joint University of Exeter and Met Office initiative to support the retention of women in climate science and promote diversity. We host monthly events on differing themes, more can be found here: WiC Network.
Publications
- Varney, R. M., Friedlingstein, P., Chadburn, S. E., Burke, E. J., & Cox, P. M. (2024): Soil carbon-concentration and carbon-climate feedbacks in CMIP6 Earth system models, Biogeosciences, 21, 2759–2776.
- Cox, P. M., Williamson, M. S., Friedlingstein, P., Jones, C. D., Raoult, N., Rogelj, J., & Varney, R. M. (2024): Emergent constraints on carbon budgets as a function of global warming. Nature Communications, 15, 1885.
- Varney, R. M., Chadburn, S. E., Burke, E. J., Jones, S., Wiltshire, A. J., & Cox, P. M. (2023): Simulated responses of soil carbon to climate change in CMIP6 Earth system models: the role of false priming, Biogeosciences, 20, 3767–3790.
- Varney, R. M., Chadburn, S. E., Burke, E. J., & Cox, P. M. (2022). Evaluation of soil carbon simulation in CMIP6 Earth system models. Biogeosciences, 19(19), 4671-4704.
- Varney, R. M., Chadburn, S. E., Friedlingstein, P., Burke, E. J., Koven, C. D., Hugelius, G., and Cox, P. M. (2020): A spatial emergent constraint on the sensitivity of soil carbon turnover to global warming. Nature Communications, 11(1):1–8.
