QUEST: Contacts: Core Team: Jo House

Contacts

Contacts | Core Team | Jo House

Jo House

Invited by Gordon Brown to
No. 10 for the launch of the
Eliasch Review

Contact details:

e-mail: jo.house@bris.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)117 33-15131
Postal address:
Dept. of Earth Sciences
University of Bristol
Wills Memorial Building
Queen's Road
BRISTOL BS8 1RJ
United Kingdom

Role in QUEST:

Science and Policy Officer

Background:

My research focuses on the carbon cycle; land use change and greenhouse gas emissions; climate impacts on forests; mitigation of climate change through avoided deforestation, forestry and bioenergy; climate mitigation scenarios, emissions pathways and policy implications. I am PI for a joint project between the Environment Agency and QUEST on Climate change and the UK uplands (fate of UK upland peat soil carbon under climate change – implications for ecosystem services and management).

I was a lead author for the IPCC Third Assessment Report (carbon cycle chapter, for which we were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize), and contributing author in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. I was a convening lead author on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Ecosystem services and climate chapter, for which we received the Zayeed Prize for Environmental Science).

Responsibilities:

I manage the QUATERMASS project on biospheric climate mitigation (forestry, bioenergy). I am involved with the QUEST-GSI Global Scale Impacts of Climate Change project carrying out specific research on impacts on the forestry sector. I also run the QUEST Working Group on Biodiversity and Climate Change.

I liaise with policy makers, industry, NGOs, etc. to make sure that the work QUEST funds meets the needs of users, and that information exchange is timely and high-impact. I synthesize the science produced, from within the program and in the literature, in response to policy questions and consultations.

I have produced several policy briefings and contributed to reports such as the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change (2006) and the Eliasch Review of forests and Climate Change (2008). I regularly respond to government consultations, reviews and questions e.g. for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, The Committee on Climate Change, Defra, BIS and DfID

Eliasch review of forests and climate change (2008) http://www.occ.gov.uk/activities/eliasch.htm
Committee on Climate Change Interim Report to UK Government on emissions targets (October 2008)
Stern Review: The economics of Climate Change (2006) Cambridge University Press

Publications:

I have over 30 peer-reviewed publications including Science and Nature.

Le Quéré C., Raupach M.R., Canadell J.G., Marland G et al. (2009) Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, Nature Geoscience 2, 831 - 836

House J.I., Huntingford C, Knorr W, Cornell SE, Cox PM, Harris GR, Jones CD, Lowe JA and Prentice IC (2008) What do recent advances in quantifying climate and carbon cycle uncertainties mean for climate policy? Environ. Res. Lett. 3 044002

Denman et al. (2007) Couplings between changes in the climate system and Biogeochemistry. In Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 996pp.

Rounsevell MDA, Reginster I, Araujo MB, Carter TR, Dendoncker N, Ewert F, House JI, Kankaanpaa S, Leemans R, Metzger MJ, Schmit C, Smith P, Tuck G (2006) A coherent set of future land use change scenarios for Europe, Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 114 (1): 57-68

House J.I., Brovkin V. et.al.. (2006) Climate and Air Quality. In Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: Current State and Trends, Vol.1, Island Press, Washington DC.

Tuck G, Glendining MJ, Smith P, House JI and Wattenbach M (2006) The potential distribution of bioenergy crops in Europe under present and future climate, Biomass and Bioenergy, 30 (3),183-197

Brovkin, V., House, J.I. and DeFries, R. (2006) New Assessment focuses on Ecosystems and Human wellbeing, and the climate system, EOS, 87 (31), p50.

Knorr, W, Prentice, IC, House, JI & Holland, EA2005. 'On the available evidence for the temperature dependence of soil on organic carbon', Biogeosciences Discussions, 2, pp. 749-755

Knorr, W., Prentice, IC., House, JI. and Holland, EA., 2005. Long-term sensitivity of soil carbon to warming. Nature, 433, 298-301.

Schröter D., W. Cramer, R. Leemans, I.C. Prentice, M.B. Araújo, N.W. Arnell, A. Bondeau, H. Bugmann, T.R. Carter, C.A. Gracia, A.C. de la Vega-Leinert, M. Erhard, F. Ewert, M. Glendining, J.I. House, S. Kankaanpää, R.J.T. Klein, S. Lavorel, M. Lindner, M.J. Metzger, J. Meyer, T.D. Mitchell, I. Reginster, M. Rounsevell, S. Sabaté, S. Sitch, B. Smith, J. Smith, P. Smith, M.T. Sykes, K. Thonicke, W. Thuiller, G. Tuck, S. Zaehle, B. Zierl 2005. Ecosystem Service Supply and Vulnerability to Global Change in Europe. Science 310 (5752), 1333-1337

Metzger, M.J., R. Leemans, D. Schröter, W. Cramer and the ATEAM consortium. The ATEAM vulnerability mapping tool. Quantitative Approaches in Systems Analysis No. 27, CD-ROM publication, Office C.T. de Wit Graduate School for Production Ecology & Resource Conservation (PE&RC), Wageningen, The Netherlands, 2004

Prentice I.C., Le Quéré C., Buitenhuis E. T., House J. I., Klaas C. and Knorr W. (2004) Biosphere dynamics: Questions for Earth system modelling. In C.J.Hawkesworth and RSJ Sparks (eds) The State of the Planet: Frontiers and Challenges. AGU Monograph. (in press)

House J.I., Prentice I.C., Ramankutty N., Heimann M. and Houghton R.A. (2003). Reducing uncertainties in terrestrial CO₂ sources and sinks. Tellus B, 55(2), 345-363.

House J.I., Archer S.R., Breshears, D. and Scholes R.J. (2003) Issues in savanna theory and modelling. Jn of Biogeography, 30, 1763-1777.

House J.I., Prentice I.C. and Le Quéré C. (2002) Maximum impacts of future reforestation or deforestation on atmospheric CO₂. Glob. Change Biol., 8, 1-6

Joos, F., Prentice I.C. and House J.I. (2002) Growth Enhancement in Terrestrial Ecosystem Models: Consistent with U.S. Forest Inventory Data, Global Change Biology, 8, 299-303.

IPCC (2001) Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press (In press). (Lead author)

Prentice, I.C., Farquhar G.D., Fasham M.J.R., Goulden M.L., Heimann M., et al. (2001) The carbon cycle and atmospheric CO₂. In J.T. Houghton Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs et al. (ed) Climate Change 2000: The Science of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press,. 183-237. (Contributing author)

Schimel D., House J.I., Hibbard K., Bousquet P., Peylin P., et al. (2001), Recent patterns and mechanisms of carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems, Nature, 414, 169-172

House, J. I. and Hall D. O. (2001) Net primary production of savannas and tropical grasslands. In: Terrestrial Global Productivity: Past Present and Future, (Eds.) H. Mooney, J. Roy, and B. Saugier, Academic Press, San Diego, 363 - 400.

Hall, D. O. and House, J.I. (2001) Biomass energy in western Europe to 2050. Chapter 26 in: Rural Planning and Management. Morris,J., Bailey,A., Kerry Turner,R. & Bateman,I.J. (eds.) Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, UK

Gignoux, J., House J. I., Hall D. O., Masse D., Nacro H. B. and Abbadie L. (2001). Design and test of a generic cohort model of soil organic matter decomposition: the SOMKO model. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 10, 639-660.

Hall, D. O., House J. I., and Scrase I. (2000): An overview of biomass energy. Chapter 1 in: Industrial Uses of Biomass Energy: the Example of Brazil, ed. by F. Rosillo-Calle, H. Rothman, and S. V. Bajay. Taylor & Francis, London.

House J.I., Koh A., Edwards E. and Hall D.O. (1999) Digital Photography: Revolutionising Remote Sensing. The Biologist, 46, 123-128.

Hall D.O. & House J.I., (1996), Biomass other than wood, Chapter 10 in 1995 Survey of Energy Resources, World Energy Council, UK.

Hall D.O. & House J.I., (1995), Biomass: A modern and environmentally acceptable fuel, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 38, 521-542.

Hall D.O. & House J.I., (1995), Biomass energy in Western Europe to 2050, Land Use Policy, 12 (1), 37-48.

Hall D.O. & House J.I., (1995), Biomass: An environmentally acceptable fuel for the future, Proc. Instn Mech Engrs, 209, 203-213.

Hall, D.O. & House, J.I., (1994), Trees and biomass energy: Carbon storage and/or fossil fuel substitution?, Biomass and Bioenergy, 6, 11-30.

Hall D.O. & House J.I., (1994), Biomass energy and the global carbon balance, Renewable Energy, 5 (1), 58-66.

Scurlock J.M.O., Hall D.O., House J.I. & Howse R. (1993) Utilising Biomass Crops as an Energy Source: A European Perspective, In, J. Wisniewski & R. Sampson (eds) Terrestrial Biospheric Carbon Fluxes: Quantification of Sinks and Sources of CO₂, Special Issue, Water Air And Soil Pollution 70, 499-518, Kluwer Academic Publ., London.

Hall D.O. & House J.I. (1993) Reducing Atmospheric CO₂ Using Biomass Energy and Photobiology, Energy Convers. Mgmt, 34 (9-11), 889-896.

Hall D.O. and House J. (1992) Biomass, Food and Water: Is There Enough for Everybody? Prepared for "Advanced Education Course on Evaluation of Impacts and Priority Setting in Environmental Management." COMETT Advanced Education Course, VTT Espoo, Finland, June 1992.

Hall D.O., Woods J. and House J. (1992) Biological Systems for Uptake of Carbon Dioxide, Energy Conversion and Management 33, 721-728 (1992).

Hall D.O. and House J. (1992) Biomass Other Than Wood, Chapter 10 in 1992 Survey of Energy Resources, World Energy Council, UK, pp149-154.

Hall D.O., Hemstock S.L., House J. and Rosillo-Calle F. (1992) Biomass Energy and the Global Carbon Balance, in Renewable Energy, Technology and the Environment, Pergamon Press, Oxford. pp.1307-1314.

QUEST: Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System