Dr Dave Campbell
Position: Associate Professor (Earth sciences), University of Waikato. Field: Carbon dioxide energy and water vapour fluxes from natural and managed ecosystems; hydrology, carbon exchanges and ecology of New Zealand wetlands.
Physical geography had always been a field that Dave Campbell was very interested in since his time in school. Dave studied geography at Otago University, and found the fields of climatology and hydrology particularly interesting. In particular, he was intrigued by what happens at the scale of plants and people (or microscale), by looking at the interface between vegetation and the atmosphere.
Dr Dave Campbell and Tehani Kuske
Dr Dave Campbell and his master’s student Tehani Kuske are taking measurements in the field to evaluate the exchange of water and CO2 between the land and the atmosphere.
His first research topic, in 1983, was to measure evaporation from an irrigated lawn in the arid Central Otago summer. After completing this work for his honours degree, Dave had the opportunity to undertake his PhD in association with the University of Otago and the Forest Research Institute (now known as Scion). The topic for this research was the hydrology of snow tussock grasslands in eastern central Otago, which, at that time, were undergoing large-scale conversion to exotic (non-native) forest. While research had been conducted on the role of forests in reducing stream flows, there was not much work done on indigenous (native) tussock lands. At that time, there was also a heated debate about the role of tussock in ‘harvesting’ water from fog, and some of Dave’s work provided evidence that the low transpiration rate from tussock was more important for sustaining stream flows than fog interception.
Dr Dave Campbell and Dr Louis Schipper
Dr Dave Campbell and Dr Louis Schipper are scientists in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Waikato.
Dave particularly enjoyed the opportunity this project gave him to work with some of the best scientists in this field. Part of the work they did was designing and constructing a huge instrument called a lysimeter – a device that measured how much water plants lose through evaporation by continuously measuring mass. The lysimeter that Dave and his colleagues used in this study was 3 metres in diameter and weighed 9 tonnes, with a giant weighing balance that was set in the ground beneath the tussock grassland. From this lysimeter, Dave retrieved hourly readings for 18 months, which, in the 1980s, was a considerable achievement given the lack of advanced computer hardware and software tools.
Earth science exciting
One of the most exciting aspects of Dave Campbell’s job is working with students. Not only does he get to teach science to students, but he is able to work alongside young researchers who are just starting out sharing new ideas.
Dave, an associate professor at Waikato University, also explains that, as a scientist, you often find out things you weren’t expecting, and trying to make sense of new and often unknown findings is an exciting and interesting part of his work.
Dave then accepted a lecturing position at the University of Waikato where he has researched hydrology, CO2 and water vapour fluxes in peat bogs in the Waikato, as well as from agricultural land. Specifically, he is looking at how water and CO2 move between the land’s surface, subsurface and the atmosphere, with the plants being the living interface.
Useful links
Learn more about Dave Campbell’s research activities by visiting the Waikato Biogeochemistry and Ecohydrology Research (WaiBER) website.
Wondering about the machinery Dave is shown using in the images? The video Eddy Covariance: Measuring an Ecosystem's Breath offers an explanation, and this is also covered in our article Measuring gases using eddy covariance.
This article is based on information current in 2009 and 2017.
