Contact Professor Ian Holman

Areas of expertise

  • Computing, Simulation & Modelling
  • Natural Capital
  • Sustainable Land Systems
  • Water Science and Engineering

Background

Professor Holman joined Cranfield University in 1994, working at the northern regional office of the Soil Survey and Land Research Centre, formerly the Soil Survey of England and Wales, where he contributed to the development of groundwater quality protection strategies in Lithuania and the Philippines and soil mapping of the Isle of Man.

Professor Holman brings interdisciplinary hydrogeological, spatial pedology and agricultural expertise to sustainable land and water resource management and climate change impacts and adaptation research in the UK, Europe and internationally for a range of Governmental, non-governmental and commercial organisations.

He was the founding Co-Chairman of the International Association of Hydrogeologists' Commission on Climate Change and Groundwater (2003-11).

Current activities

Professor Holman leads the Catchment Management Community of Practice within the Cranfield Water Science Institute.  His research over the past 25 years has focussed on understanding and modelling how changes in current and future land use and land management at catchment to national scales affect natural capital and ecosystem services, including water regulation, water purification and food production.   He is the Cranfield Principal Investigator (PI) on a number of recent major projects relating to water and land resources, leading the:

    Development of the D-Risk online tools to support improved drought risk assessment within UK irrigated agriculture (NE/S013997/1; NE/N017471/1)

    Modelling of post-Brexit trade scenarios and future agricultural support policy on Welsh farming (ERRAMP)

    Agricultural research within two of the projects in the NERC Droughts and Water Scarcity programme (NE/L010186/1; NE/L010070/1)

    Water resources systems modelling within the NERC and Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences-funded project on "Sustaining Himalayan Water Resources in a Changing Climate " (NE/L010070/1)

    Development of an interactive web-based Integrated Assessment Platform (IAP) for the assessment of climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability within natural resource systems (water, agriculture, forest and biodiversity) across Europe (FP7 Contract No 244031 and 312848)

Clients

Recent clients have included:

  • Research Councils (NERC, BBSRC and EPSRC)
  • UK Government departments, including Defra and DFID
  • Welsh Government
  • European Commission (FP7 and DG Environment)
  • Environment Agency
  • Broads Authority
  • Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Publications

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

  • Momblanch A, Shirsat T, Kulkarni A & Holman IP (2022) Integrating glacier flow in hydrological modelling for water resources management. In: EGU General Assembly, 2022, Vienna, 23-27 May 2022.
  • Shirsat T, Kulkarni A, Momblanch A, Singh Randhawa S & Holman I (2021) Potential impacts of warming climate on future water resources and hydropower production in a glacierized catchment in Western Himalaya. In: EGU General Assembly, 2021, Virtual Event, 19-30 April 2021.
  • Holman I, Remesan R & Adeloye AJ (2013) Assessing the implications of baseline climate uncertainty on simulated hydrology of the Himalayan Beas river basin in NW India. In: AGU Fall Meeting 2013, San Francisco, 9 December 2013.
  • Beven K, Romanowicz R, Young P, Holman IP, Posthumus H, Morris J, Rose S, O'Connell E & Ewen J (2008) An event classification approach to the identification of hydrological change. In: Defra Flood Risk and Coastal Management Conference 2008, Manchester, 1 July 2008.
  • Holman IP, Whitehead J & Deeks LK (2007) Using SWAT to support the Habitats Directive in the UK- a case study from the east of England. In: 4th international SWAT conference , Delft, The Netherlands, 4 July 2007.
  • Clarke MA, Creamer RE, Deeks LK, Gowing D, Holman IP, Jones RJA, Palmer RC, Potts S, Rickson RJ, Ritz K, Thompson TRE, Truckell IG, Vickery J, Whalley R & Woodcock B (2007) Soil compaction in England and Wales : a vulnerability assessment, state-of knowledge and recommendations for future research. In: Soils - fit for purpose ? : BSSS Annual Meeting 2007, Aberystwyth, UK, 1 September 2007.
  • Henriques C & Holman IP (2006) The implications of future climate and socio-economic change for delivering environmental legislative requirements in East Anglia and North West England. In: British Hydrology Society 9th National Hydrology Symposium, Durham, 11 September 2006.
  • Holman IP & Howsam P (2002) Regional implications of climate and societal change for achieving good ecological status. In: 2002 Science for Water - Implications for the Water Framework Directive Conference, Norwich, 1 January 2002.
  • Holman IP & Palmer RC (1999) Groundwater protection incorporated into land use planning: a study from Cebu City, the Philippines.. In: Impacts of Urban Growth and Groundwater Quality, UK, 1 June 1999.
  • Holman IP & Hiscock KM (1995) Controls on Saline Intrusion in the crag aquifer of north east Norfolk in an area of drained coastal marshes. In: Proceeding of the Fourth Annual Conference on Groundwater Pollution, UK, 1 July 1995.
  • Holman IP, Loveland PJ, Bellamy PH, Jarvis N & Vachaud G CAMSCALE: upscaling, predictive models and catchment water quality. In: Proceedings of the European Climate Science Conference, Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
  • Holman IP & Al Mulla M Application of SWAT in a Mountainous Arid Catchment in United Arab Emirates. In: 4th Inernational SWAT conference, Delft, The Netherlands.

Books

  • Holman IP & Naess LO (2008) Vulnerability Assessments in the Developed World: The UK and Norway. In: Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change- Making Research Useful for Adaptation Decision Making and Policy, Earthscan.
  • Holman IP (2006) Regional hydrological impacts of climate and socio-economic change in North West England, UK. In: Water in Celtic Countries: Quantity, Quality and Climate Variability (Proceedings of the Fourth InterCeltic Colloquium on Hydrology and Management of Water Resources, Guimarýes, Portugal, July 2005), IAHS.