Rate My Professor Scott Davidson

Dr. Scott Davidson serves as Lecturer in Ecosystem Resilience in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth, a position he has held since 2021, during which he established the Plymouth Peatland Research Group. He also holds an appointment as Assistant Professor in Wetland Carbon Dynamics at the Université du Québec à Montréal since August 2021. Davidson earned his PhD from the Université du Québec à Montréal and previously studied at the University of Sheffield, including periods focused on climate change, Arctic vegetation, and greenhouse gas fluxes from 2012 to 2017, as well as a Geography degree from the University of Dundee between 2007 and 2012. Prior to Plymouth, he conducted research on boreal peatlands in Canada, including at the University of Waterloo, investigating disturbances from the oil and gas industry and wildfires.

Davidson's research centers on the resilience of global wetland and peatland ecosystems to climate and land-use changes, with specializations in carbon stocks and fluxes, methane and carbon dioxide emissions, vegetation dynamics, and biogeochemical processes across Arctic tundra, boreal, and tropical systems. He leads the international citizen science initiative Tracking the Colour of Peatlands, launched in 2021, which monitors peatland health through smartphone imagery from sites in the UK, Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland, Germany, France, Sweden, and beyond. Key contributions include syntheses of swamp carbon data and studies on wildfire and drainage impacts on northern peatlands. His prominent publications encompass 'Carbon Stocks and Fluxes From a Boreal Conifer Swamp: Filling a Knowledge Gap for Understanding the Boreal C Cycle' (2024, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences), 'The unrecognized importance of carbon stocks and fluxes from swamps in Canada and the USA' (2022, Environmental Research Letters), 'Wildfire and drainage accelerate carbon loss from northern peatlands' (2023), 'Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: Diverse causes with common consequences' (2025), and 'Linear Disturbances Shift Boreal Peatland Plant Communities' (2021). With over 1,300 citations, his scholarship highlights wetlands' potential as nature-based climate solutions. Davidson engages in teaching environmental sciences modules, leads field trips to Sweden, incorporates research samples into lectures, and promotes public understanding of peatlands through media and outreach.