- School of Environmental Sciences
- University of East Anglia
- Norwich
- NR4 7TJ
- UK
- +44 (0)
Email: Emma.Coombes’at’uea.ac.uk
I am working on an MRC funded study examining the role of the environment in determining physical activity levels in Norfolk school children. This research aims to identify the environmental characteristics that are supportive of physical activity by combining information on children’s activity levels and data on their locations collected using a GPS, with a GIS database. This research forms part of the SPEEDY study, which is investigating environmental and social influences on physical activity and body weight in children.
I recently undertook an ESRC/NERC funded PhD examining the effects of climate change on coastal tourism and biodiversity. My research focused on the East Anglian coastline and used a GIS based analysis to identify the factors that are important in determining visitor numbers at coastal locations and how visitors behave at the beach. I assessed the impacts that climate change may have on future tourism and evaluated the implications of changes in visitor use for coastal habitats.
Before my PhD, I studied for an MSc by Research examining flood defence strategies within the Humber estuary. My work used GIS and Cost Benefit Analysis to identify areas suitable for managed realignment and assess the environmental and economic costs and benefits of realignment compared to maintaining existing lines of defence. This research contributed to an EU project, EUROCAT, concerning the impact of nutrients and trace metals from river catchments on the quality of coastal waters.
Publications
In press:
2009:
2008:
2007:
Turner, R.K., Burgess, D., Hadley, D., Coombes, E. and Jackson, N. (2007) A cost-benefit appraisal of coastal managed realignment policy. Global Environmental Change, 17(3-4): 397-407.
2006:
Andrews, J.E., Burgess, D., Cave, R.R., Coombes, E.G., Jickells, T.D., Parkes, D.J. and Turner, R.K. (2006) Biogeochemical value of managed realignment, Humber Estuary, UK. Science of the Total Environment, 371(1-3): 19-30.
2005:
Cave, R.R., Andrews, J.E., Jickells, T. and Coombes E.G. (2005) A review of sediment contamination by trace metals in the Humber catchment and estuary, and the implications for future estuary water quality. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 62(3): 547-557.
2004:
Coombes, E.G., Jones, A.P., Sutherland, W.J. and Bateman, I.J. (2004) Interactions between tourism, biodiversity and climate change in the coastal zone. In: Matzarakis, A., de Freitas, C.R. and Scott, D. (eds) Advances in Tourism Climatology. Ber. Meteor. Inst. Univ. Freiburg Nr. 12, p.141-148.
Conference Papers
Burgess, D., Coombes, E., Hadley, D., Turner, R.K. and Jackson, N. (2006) Managed realignment: An economic appraisal of the Humber Catchment. Presented at the 80th Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Society, 30–31st March 2006, Paris, France.
Cave, R.R., Jickells, T., Andrews, J.E., Coombes E.G. and Tappin, A. (2005) Estuaries as filters for nutrients – A case study of the Humber Estuary, UK. Presented to the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography, 19–24th June 2005, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Burgess, D., Turner, R.K., Coombes, E.G. and Jackson, N. (2004) Managed realignment: A cost-benefit analysis. Presented at the European Conference on Coastal Zone Research: an ELOISE Approach, 14–18th November 2004, Portoroz, Slovenia.
Websites
Coombes, E.G., Burgess, D., Jackson, N., Turner, R.K. and Cornell, S. (2005) Case study: Climate change and coastal management in practice – A cost-benefit assessment in the Humber, UK. European Land Ocean Interaction Studies: www.eloisegroup.org/themes/climatechange/caseintro.htm