The research I am currently undertaking is part of the Dŵr Uisce project, a cross boarder project between Bangor University and Trinity Collage Dublin, funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation programme. The Dŵr Uisce project has the overall aim of improving the long-term sustainability of water supply, treatment and end use in Ireland and Wales. My research forms part of work package 7, Climate Change, which cuts across the whole project, both the technological and environmental sides.

During the course of my research I have so far quantified changes in historical hydroclimatic data for catchments in Wales, as well as established a relationship between daily weather changes and total water demand for public water supply. In addition, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) I have assessed the impact of a worst-case scenario of future global greenhouse emissions, and therefore climate change, on streamflow and water quality for catchments in Wales. The results of this study have then been used to assess the availability of water for both public water supply and hydropower generation in the catchments studied.

My current work aims to continue that started during my PhD, in particular the assessment of the impacts of future climate change on run-of-river hydropower, now at a national scale, studying first the impacts of hydrological regime change. This work will then be further expanded to analyse the potential implications of changing water quality parameters on the operation of hydropower schemes.

I undertake a small amount of teaching alongside my research work, mainly in the form of invited guest lectures/lecture series for specific modules, on topics related to my research. Recent examples include the following modules:

• Sustainable Development (DXX-2001), a second year module for which I deliver a series of lectures on global water resource exploitation, integrated water resource management, and water resource modelling and allocation.
• Food Geographies (DXX-3600/DXX-3601), third year modules for which I talk about water use in the food and drink industry, covering concepts such as water footprints, virtual water trading, and the bottled water industry.
• Green Technologies (DXX-4525), a masters level module in which I have contributed to a session looking at research careers in green technology/environmental studies. 

A notable exception to my predominantly guest lecture based teaching is my contribution to the Barcelona Field Course module (DXX-3003) which is offered to third year geography students, with which I am heavily involved. For this module I cover the physical geography content of the course, both before the weeklong visit, and during, on topics such as landscape formation, fluvial systems and water use, volcanic landscapes, and resource exploitation. I also set and assess work for the module in the form of group presentations, short fieldwork tasks, and longer research reports.

I came to Bangor University in 2012 to study my undergraduate BSc Geography with International Experience degree. Through the course of this programme I undertook a variety of opportunities, key among these was a three-month internship with a local community owned hydropower development on the Afon Anafon above the village of Abergwyngregyn. During my time working with Anafon Hydro I developed a passion for water, renewable energy, and future sustainability, this led to my dissertation topic, based on the catchment scale identification of potential micro-hydroelectric run-of-river sites using GIS. This work secured me a PhD position at Bangor as part of the Dŵr Uisce project, looking at the impacts of future climate change on catchments and water resources in Wales. Having successfully defended my thesis at the end of 2020, I am now continuing work for the Dŵr Uisce project as a postdoctoral researcher, focussing specifically on how hydropower will be impacted by future hydrological regime and water quality changes.

Office: Room F15c, Thoday Building

Email: r.dallison@bangor.ac.uk

LinkedIn: Richard-Dallison

Twitter: @richarddallison