Katy Roucoux

Dr. Katy Roucoux is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography (Environmental Change) at the University of St Andrews' School of Geography and Sustainable Development. She holds affiliations with the Environmental Change Research Group and Peatlands@StAndrews. Her research focuses on long-term ecological responses to climatic change and human activity, particularly in tropical peatlands and Mediterranean regions.

Education: BSc in Geology and Zoology (Royal Holloway University of London, 1995); PhD in Quaternary Palaeoclimatology (University of Cambridge, 2000); MSc in Science Communication (Imperial College London, 2001). Previously held roles include NERC-funded post-doctoral research at the University of Leeds (2002–2007) and Lecturer positions at the University of Leeds and St Andrews before becoming Senior Lecturer in 2018.

Research interests include reconstructing past vegetation changes using pollen records, tropical peatland dynamics, and interdisciplinary studies of Amazonian ecosystems. She leads a Leverhulme Trust-funded project investigating indigenous communities' valuation of Peruvian peatlands and contributes to Mediterranean palaeoclimate studies.

Key awards: British Ecological Society Outreach Grant (2020). Supervised PhD student Camille Choquet. Active in public engagement, including workshops and media interviews (e.g., Attalea magazine).

Labs/Groups: Environmental Change Research Group, Peatlands@StAndrews. Collaborations span institutions in Peru, Brazil, Greece, and the UK, focusing on peatland conservation, carbon dynamics, and interdisciplinary environmental research.