Hamish Moir
Honorary Research Fellow
- BSc (2.1 Hons) Physical Geography, Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
- MSc Water Resources Engineering and Management, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Glasgow
- PhD ‘The characterisation of Atlantic salmon spawning habitat in the River Dee and River Don catchments, Scotland.’, Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
- Post-doctoral research, Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
- Research Scientist Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, US.
- Research Scientist, Catchment Management Group, The Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen.
- Honorary Research Fellow/ Research Associate, Rivers and Lochs Institute/ Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater Conservation, University of the Highlands and Islands.
Research interests:
- Process/ nature-based river restoration
- Defining hydromorphic reference conditions
- The hierarchical arrangement of physical processes in river systems (and their control on instream habitats)
- The role of large wood as a driver of morphological/ ecological evolution in rivers
- Understanding linkages between channel morphology, instream hydraulics, sediment transport and aquatic habitats.
Research project highlights:
- Andakilsá Bank Protection and Sediment Management, West Iceland. Initially, a project to provide sustainable bank protection measures (implemented in May 2022) but expanded to include catchment-scale sediment management. This includes the sustainable management of sediment accumulating in a hydropower reservoir and broader land-use management in tributaries supplying a high sediment load.
- Allt Lorgy, Carrbridge, Scottish Highlands. A process-based approach was employed to restore biodiversity on a tributary within the River Spey System. Employing an ‘assisted recovery’ strategy, designs were produced that removed constraints to natural physical process. This has allowed the river to evolve to a more dynamic, natural condition, with measured benefits to ecology.
- River Peffery, Easter Ross, Scottish Highlands. Designs were developed for the restoration of a section of the river that had been historically straightened for the purposes of agricultural improvements in the 18th century. The design provided a more sinuous channel course with associated connected wetlands and backwaters. The project was delivered in 2022, requiring significant collaboration with the local farming community and other stakeholders.
- Quharity Burn, Angus. A design and build project reconnected a historically straightened burn with its natural floodplain, following a ‘Stage 0’ type of nature-based approach. Hydrodynamic modelling identified that minimal construction of new channel was required; rather, through localised groundworks, the flow was directed into the adjacent floodplain and left to find a natural course that followed relict historical channels. The ‘Storm Babet’ flood of Oct 2023 resulted in significant positive evolution of the site.
Publications:
Spray,S., Black, A., Bradley, D., Bromley, C., Caithness, F., Dodd, J., Hunt, J., MacDonald, A., Martinez-Romero, R., McDermott, T., Moir, H., Quinn, L., Reid, H., Robertson, H. 2022. Strategic design and delivery of integrated catchment restoration monitoring: emerging lessons from a 12-year study in the UK. Water 14, 2305. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14152305
Williams, R.D., Bangen, S, Gillies, E., Kramer, N., Moir, H., Wheaton, J. 2020. Let the river erode! Enabling lateral migration increases geomorphic unit diversity. Science of the Total Environment, doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136817
Friberg, N, Angelopoulos, N.V., Buijse, A.D., Cowx, I.G, Kail, J., Moe, T.F, Moir, H., O’Hare, M.T., Verdonschot, P.F.M, Wolter, C. 2016. Effective River Restoration in the 21st Century: From Trial and Error to Novel Evidence-Based Approaches. Advances in Ecological Research, Volume 55 ISSN 0065-2504
Malcolm, I.A., Gibbins, C.N., Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., Moir, H.J. 2012. The influence of hydrology and hydraulics on salmonids between spawning and emergence: implications for the management of flows in regulated rivers. Fisheries Management and Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2400.2011.00836.x
Beechie, T.J., Sear, D.A., Olden, J.D., Pess, G.R., Buffington, J.M., Moir, H.J., Roni, P., Pollock, M.M. 2010. Process-based principles for restoring river ecosystems. BioScience, 60, 209-222.
Moir, H.J., Gibbins, C.N., Buffington, J.M., Webb, J.H., Soulsby, C., Brewer, M.J. 2009. A new method to identify the fluvial regimes used by spawning salmonids. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 66, 1404-1408.
Moir, H.J., Pasternack, G.B. 2009. Substrate requirements of spawning Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are dependent on local channel hydraulics. Rivers Research and Applications. DOI: 10.1002/rra.1292
Moir, H.J., Pasternack, G B. 2008. Interactions between meso-scale morphological units, stream hydraulics and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning habitat on the Lower Yuba River, California. Geomorphology. 100, 527-548.
Beechie, T., Moir, H., Pess, G. 2008. Hierarchical physical controls on salmonid spawning location and timing. In: DeVries, P., Sear, D. (Eds.), Salmon spawning habitat in rivers: physical controls, biological responses, and approaches to remediation. Proceedings of the Spawning Habitat Symposium, American Fisheries Society, Quebec City, August 2003, 83-103.
Moir, H.J., Gibbins, C.N., Soulsby, C., Webb, J.H. 2006. Interactions between stream discharge and hydraulic conditions in contrasting channel morphologies and their influence on site utilisation by spawning Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 63, 2567-2585.
Moir, H.J., Soulsby, C., Youngson, A.F., Gibbins, C.N. 2005. PHABSIM modelling of Atlantic salmon spawning habitat in an upland stream: testing the influence of habitat suitability indices on model output. Rivers Research and Applications, 21, 1021-1034.
Moir, H.J., Gibbins, C.N., Soulsby, C., Webb, J.H. 2004. Linking channel geomorphic characteristics to spatial patterns of spawning activity and discharge use by Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Geomorphology, 60, 21-35.
Gibbins, C., Moir, H.J., Webb, J., Soulsby, C. 2002. Assessing discharge use by spawning Atlantic salmon: a comparison of discharge electivity indices and PHABSIM simulations. Rivers Research and Applications, 18, 383-395.
Moir, H.J., Soulsby, C., Youngson, A.F. 2002. Hydraulic and sedimentary controls on the availability and use of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) spawning habitat in the River Dee system, north-east Scotland. Geomorphology, 45, 291-308.