Maria Mills

I am a PhD student studying carbon fluxes along a logging gradient in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. My research aims to understand the similarities and differences in carbon fluxes and carbon allocation between heavily logged, moderately logged, and old-growth forests and how this use this understanding can be used to inform restoration and recovery efforts within these landscapes.

Prior to starting my PhD, I completed a masters degree in Tropical Forest Ecology (MRES) at Imperial College London and a undergraduate degree in Geography (BSc) at the University of Sheffield. 

Outside of my PhD, I am also a part-time eddy covariance flux research assistant, managing two eddy covariance towers in East Anglia, UK. This research is part of the research project “Toward an accurate estimate of wasted peat GHG emissions in England” funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

Logged forests are now more expansive than old-growth forests throughout the tropics. Yet, research into logged tropical forests has been limited, as previous research has largely focused on old-growth forests. Given how dominant these logged forests are, it is imperative that we improve our understanding of them so they can be better represented within the global carbon budget, and this understanding can be applied to restoration efforts and to climate mitigation policy.

My PhD research focusses on carbon dynamics across a logging gradient from old-growth unlogged to heavily logged forests in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This research employs data from long-term forest plots and an eddy covariance tower within the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystem (SAFE) Project to quantify the complete carbon budget of these plots and investigate what similarities or differences there may be between logged and old-growth forest landscapes. Using this long-term data, I also investigate the various drivers of stem respiration specifically along this logging gradient and, subsequently, the different strategies of resource allocation between logged and old-growth forests. The final section of my PhD research uses a primary dataset of diurnal and vertical stem respiration from an old-growth plot in Maliau Basin Conservation Area, Sabah, to investigate the accuracy and bias in how we measure stem respiration. This includes diel stem respiration – what time do we measure stem respiration at, vertical variation on stem respiration along the height of the stem – the accuracy at measuring at 1.1 m, and surface area scaling of stem respiration– how does surface area estimated from allometry compare to that of terrestrial lidar scanning.

This research is supported by NERC studentship awarded through the Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA) and is in conjunction with SAFE Project, the Global Ecosystems Monitoring network (gem.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk) and is supported by Maliau Basin and Danum Valley Management Committees, South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP), Sabah Forestry Department and the Sabah Biodiversity Council.

Founder and Coordinator of “Social Seminar Series” at the University of Leicester School of Geography Geology and the Environment (SGGE), which is a monthly informal seminar series for staff and PGRs to present their recent research (2021- present)

Coordinator  – SGGE Contemporary Environments lab group (2022 – 2023)

Coordinator – SGGE Peatland special interest group (2023 – 2024)

SGGE International Women’s Day Event Coordinator (2023 and 2024)