Staff Profile

Background

Steve is a Senior Research Associate at Newcastle University and has worked at the university since 1997. He is a hydrologist with particular expertise in the computer modelling of river basins.

He has successfully carried out research in the following areas: nitrate transport and nitrogen transformation processes, cold region processes, wetlands, sediment transport, surface/groundwater interactions. More recently he has researched water flow pathways using temperature as a tracer, forestry effects on flooding, the use of satellite altimetry data to augment flow estimation techniques and surface water flooding.

He has published more than 50 ISI-cited articles with 15 as the first author and has an h-index of 26

Steve is in charge of maintaining and developing the code and providing support for users of the Shetran model. This is a physically-based spatially-distributed model for water flow, sediment and solute transport in river catchments.

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsible for developing and maintaining SHETRAN catchment modelling system. SHETRAN has been at the forefront of hydrological modelling research for the past 20 years. Steve has been instrumental is making the model more accessible and user friendly leading to a large increase in the number of users.

Qualifications

1990 BSc - Mathematics - Nottingham University

1993 MSc - Hydrology - Newcastle University

1997 PhD - Nitrate Transport Component for SHETRAN Catchment modelling System, Newcastle University

Area of expertise: Hydrological modelling

Google scholar: Click here.

SCOPUS: Click here.

Research Interests

Physically based hydrological modelling of river basins. This includes nitrate transport and nitrogen transformation processes, cold region processes, wetlands, sediment yield and the impact of groundwater abstraction on surface waters.

In charge of SHETRAN model development and its website (research.ncl.ac.uk/shetran)

Current Work

1) Using remote sensing to estimate discharge in poorly or ungauged rivers

2) Using stream and soil temperatures as a tracer to understand flow pathways 

3) Flooding from intense rainfall as part of the SINATRA project (www.met.reading.ac.uk/flooding/)

4) Surface water flooding using CityCat (www.ncl.ac.uk/ceser/research/integrated-systems/cities/citycat/)

5) The effect of forests on flooding, focusing on the Coalburn catchment

6) Urban flood resilience (www.urbanfloodresilience.ac.uk)

7) Creative experiments for building resilience to future drought in Africa (creativedrought.wordpress.com/team/)

Research Roles

Principal Researcher

Esteem Indicators

50 publications in top quartile journals, 15 as a first author and an h index of 26.

In-charge of the Shetran hydrological model for the last ten years. This includes maintaining the code, website and user group. The model has 150 publications in peer reviewed journals. Over the last 12 months Shetran has been downloaded by over 200 users from over 20 different countries.

Regular speaker at conferences and invited to give two research talks in the past 12 months

Reviewer for over 12 hydrological/earth systems journals

Supervision of six successful PhDs plus provided technical support for an additional 10 successful PhDs and currently supervising five PhDs

External PhD examiner at University College London and Nottingham University

Funding

Co-I on the £164,000 NERC funded “ Creative Drought” project

Industrial Relevance

Work with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Meteorological office, SKB, BGS and Newcastle City Council

Lead practical sessions on modelling as part of MSc modules

• Articles

  • Kennedy-Asser AT, Andrews OD, Montgomery J, Jenkins KL, Smith BAH, Lewis E, Birkinshaw SJ, He H, Pywell RF, Brown MJ, Redhead JW, Warren R, Robson C, Smith AJP, Nicholls RJ, Mullan D, McGuire R. The role of local knowledge in enhancing climate change risk assessments in rural Northern Ireland. Climate Risk Management 2025, 48, 100702.
  • Ntigkakis C, Birkinshaw S, Stirling R. Geological Modelling of Urban Environments Under Data Uncertainty. Geosciences 2025, 15(11), 423.
  • Sayers PB, Birkinshaw SJ, Carr S, He Y, Lewis L, Smith B, Redhead J, Pywell R, Ford A, Virgo J, Nicholls RJ, Price J, Warren R, Forstenhausler N, Smith A, Russell A. A National Assessment of Natural Flood Management and Its Contribution to Fluvial Flood Risk Reduction. Journal of Flood Risk Management 2025, 18(4), e70151.
  • Smith BA, Birkinshaw SJ, Lewis E, McGrady E, Sayers P. Physically-based modelling of UK river flows under climate change. Frontiers in Water 2024, 6, 1468855.
  • Thaivalappil Sukumaran S, Birkinshaw SJ. Investigating the Impact of Recent and Future Urbanization on Flooding in an Indian River Catchment. Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5652.
  • Oyarmoi A, Birkinshaw S, Hewett CJM, Fowler HJ. The Effect of Papyrus Wetlands on Flow Regulation in a Tropical River Catchment. Land 2023, 12(12), 2158.
  • Carr AS, Chase BM, Birkinshaw SJ, Holmes PJ, Rabumbulu M, Stewart BA. Paleolakes and socioecological implications of last glacial "greening" of the South African interior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2023, 120(21), e2221082120.
  • Suroso S, Santoso PB, Birkinshaw S, Kilsby C, Badossy A, Aldrian E. Assessment of TRMM rainfall data for flood modelling in three contrasting catchments in Java, Indonesia. Journal of Hydroinformatics 2023, 25(3), 797–814.
  • Bardossy A, Kilsby C, Birkinshaw S, Wang N, Anwar F. Is Precipitation Responsible for the Most Hydrological Model Uncertainty?. Frontiers in Water 2022, 4, 836554.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Krivtsov V. Evaluating the Effect of the Location and Design of Retention Ponds on Flooding in a Peri-Urban River Catchment. Land 2022, 11(8), 1368.
  • Krivtsov V, Forbes H, Birkinshaw S, Olive V, Chamberlain D, Buckman J, Yahr R, Arthur S, Christie D, Monteiro Y, Diekonigin C. Ecosystem services provided by urban ponds and green spaces: a detailed study of a semi-natural site with global importance for research. Blue-Green Systems 2022, 4(1), 1-23.
  • Vazquez RF, Brito JE, Hampel H, Birkinshaw S. Assessing the Performance of SHETRAN Simulating a Geologically Complex Catchment. Water (Switzerland) 2022, 14(20), 3334.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Kilsby C, O'donnell G, Quinn P, Adams R, Wilkinson ME. Stormwater detention ponds in urban catchments—analysis and validation of performance of ponds in the ouseburn catchment, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Water 2021, 13(18), 2521.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, O'Donnell G, Glenis V, Kilsby C. Improved hydrological modelling of urban catchments using runoff coefficients. Journal of Hydrology 2021, 594, 125884.
  • Krivtsov V, Birkinshaw S, Yahr R, Olive V. Comparative ecosystem analysis of urban ponds: implications for synergistic benefits and potential trade-offs resulting from retrofitting of green roofs in their catchments. International Journal of Environmental Impacts 2021, 4(4), 323-339.
  • Hughes D, Birkinshaw S, Parkin G. A method to include reservoir operations in catchment hydrological models using SHETRAN. Environmental Modelling and Software 2021, 138, 104980.
  • O'Donnell E, Thorne C, Ahilan S, Arthur S, Birkinshaw S, Butler D, Dawson D, Everett G, Fenner R, Glenis V, Kapetas L, Kilsby C, Krivtsov V, Lamond J, Maskrey S, O'Donnell G, Potter K, Vercruysse K, Vilcan T, Wright N. The Blue-Green Path to Urban Flood Resilience. Blue-Green Systems 2019, 1(1), 172-189.
  • Zhang R, Cuartas LA, Birkinshaw S. Season‐based rainfall–runoff modelling using the probability‐distributed model (PDM) for large basins in southeastern Brazil. Hydrological processes 2019, 32(14), 2217-2230.
  • Krivtsov V, Birkinshaw S, Arthur S, Knott D, Monfries R, Wilson K, Christie D, Chamberlain D, Brownless P, Kelly D, Buckman J, Forbes H, Monteiro Y. Flood Resilience, Amenity and Biodiversity Benefits of an Historic Urban Pond. Philosophical Transactions A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 2019, 378(2168), 20190389.
  • Zhang R, Corte-Real J, Moreira M, Kilsby C, Birkinshaw S, Burton A, Fowler HJ, Forsythe N, Nunes JP, Sampaio E, dos Santos FL, Mourato S. Downscaling climate change of water availability, sediment yield and extreme events: Application to a Mediterranean climate basin. International Journal of Climatology 2019, 39(6), 2947-2963.
  • Zhang R, CorteReal J, Moreira M, Kilsby C, Burton A, Fowler HJ, Blenkinsop S, Birkinshaw S, Forsythe N, Nunes JP, Sampaio E. Downscaling climate change of mean climatology and extremes of precipitation and temperature: Application to a Mediterranean climate basin. International Journal of Climatology 2019, 39(13), 4985-5005.
  • Bathurst J, Birkinshaw S, Johnson H, Kenny A, Napier A, Raven S, Robinson J, Stroud R. Runoff, flood peaks and proportional response in a combined nested and paired forest plantation/peat grassland catchment. Journal of Hydrology 2018, 564, 916-927.
  • Janes V, Holman I, Birkinshaw S, O'Donnell G, Kilsby C. Improving bank erosion modelling at catchment scale by incorporating temporal and spatial variability. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 2018, 43(1), 124-133.
  • Rangecroft S, Birkinshaw S, Rohse M, Day R, McEwen E, Makaya E, Van Loon AF. Hydrological modelling as a tool for interdisciplinary workshops on future drought. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment 2018, 42(2), 237-256.
  • Lewis E, Birkinshaw S, Kilsby C, Fowler HJ. Development of a system for automated setup of a physically-based, spatially-distributed hydrological model for catchments in Great Britain. Environmental Modelling & Software 2018, 108, 102-110.
  • Moore P, Birkinshaw SJ, Ambrozio A, Restano M, Benveniste J. CryoSat-2 Full Bit Rate Level 1A processing and validation for inland water applications. Advances in Space Research 2018, 62(6), 1497-1515.
  • Shrestha PK, Shakya NM, Pandey VP, Birkinshaw SJ, Shrestha S. Model-based estimation of land subsidence in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk 2017, 8(2), 974-996.
  • Guerreiro SB, Birkinshaw S, Kilsby C, Fowler HJ, Lewis E. Dry getting drier − the future of transnational river basins in Iberia. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 2017, 12, 238-252.
  • Starkey E, Parkin G, Birkinshaw S, Large A, Quinn P, Gibson C. Demonstrating the value of community-based (‘citizen science’) observations for catchment modelling and characterisation. Journal of Hydrology 2017, 548, 801–817.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Guerreiro SB, Nicholson A, Liang Q, Quinn P, Zhang L, He B, Yin J, Fowler HJ. Climate change impacts on Yangtze River discharge at the Three Gorges Dam. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2017, 21(4), 1911-1927.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Moore P, Kilsby CG, O'Donnell GM, Hardy AJ, Berry PAM. Daily discharge estimation at ungauged river sites using remote sensing. Hydrological Processes 2014, 28(3), 1043-1054.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Bathurst JC, Robinson M. 45 years of non-stationary hydrology over a forest plantation growth cycle, Coalburn catchment, Northern England. Journal of Hydrology 2014, 519, Part A, 559-573.
  • Ewen J, O'Connell E, Bathurst J, Birkinshaw SJ, Kilsby C, Parkin G, O'Donnell G. Physically-based modelling, uncertainty, and pragmatism – Comment on: ‘Système Hydrologique Europeén (SHE): review and perspectives after 30 years development in distributed physically-based hydrological modelling’ by Jens Christian Refsgaard, Børge Storm and Thomas Clausen. Hydrology Research 2012, 43(6), 945-947.
  • Miller P, Mills J, Barr SL, Birkinshaw S, Hardy A, Parkin G, Hall S. A Remote Sensing Approach for Landslide Hazard Assessment on Engineered Slopes. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 2012, 50(4), 1048-1056.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Bathurst JC, Iroumé A, Palacios H. The effect of forest cover on peak flow and sediment discharge – an integrated field and modelling study in central-southern Chile. Hydrological Processes 2011, 25(8), 1284-1297.
  • Bathurst JC, Birkinshaw SJ, Cisneros F, Fallas J, Iroumé A, Iturraspe R, Gaviño Novillo M, Urciuolo A, Alvarado A, Coello C, Huber A, Miranda M, Ramirez M, Sarandón R. Forest impact on floods due to extreme rainfall and snowmelt in four Latin American environments 2: Model analysis. Journal of Hydrology 2011, 400(3-4), 292-304.
  • Bathurst JC, Iroumé A, Cisneros F, Fallas J, Iturraspe R, Gaviño Novillo M, Urciuolo A, de Bièvre B, Guerrero Borges V, Coello C, Cisneros P, Gayoso J, Miranda M, Ramirez M. Forest impact on floods due to extreme rainfall and snowmelt in four Latin American environments 1: Field data analysis. Journal of Hydrology 2011, 400(3-4), 281-291.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, O'Donnell GM, Moore P, Kilsby CG, Fowler HJ, Berry PAM. Using satellite altimetry data to augment flow estimation techniques on the Mekong River. Hydrological Processes 2010, 24(26), 3811-3825.
  • Birkinshaw SJ. Technical Note: Automatic river network generation for a physically-based river catchment model. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2010, 14(9), 1767-1771.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, James P, Ewen J. Graphical user interface for rapid set-up of SHETRAN physically-based river catchment model. Environmental Modelling & Software 2010, 25(4), 609-610.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Webb B. Flow pathways in the Slapton Wood catchment using temperature as a tracer. Journal of Hydrology 2010, 383(3-4), 269-279.
  • Birkinshaw SJ. Physically-based modelling of double-peak discharge responses at Slapton Wood catchment. Hydrological Processes 2008, 22(10), 1419-1430.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Parkin G, Rao Z. A hybrid neural networks and numerical models approach for predicting groundwater abstraction impacts. Journal of Hydroinformatics 2008, 10(2), 127-137.
  • Ewen J, Birkinshaw SJ. Lumped hysteretic model for subsurface stormflow developed using downward approach. Hydrological Processes 2007, 21(11), 1496-1505.
  • Parkin G, Birkinshaw SJ, Younger PL, Rao Z, Kirk S. A numerical modelling and neural network approach to estimate the impact of groundwater abstractions on river flows. Journal of Hydrology 2007, 339(1-2), 15-28.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Bathurst JC. Model study of the relationship between sediment yield and river basin area. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 2006, 31(6), 750-761.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Thorne MC, Younger PL. Reference biospheres for post-closure performance assessment: inter-comparison of SHETRAN simulations and BIOMASS results. Journal of Radiological Protection 2005, 25(1), 33-49.
  • Parkin G, Younger PL, Birkinshaw SJ, Murray M, Rao Z. A new approach to modelling river-aquifer interactions using a 3-D numerical model and neural networks. IAHS-AISH Publication 2001, (269), 183-190.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Ewen J. Nitrogen transformation component for SHETRAN catchment nitrate transport modelling. Journal of Hydrology 2000, 230(1-2), 1-17.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Ewen J. Modelling nitrate transport in the Slapton Wood catchment using SHETRAN. Journal of Hydrology 2000, 230(1-2), 18-33.

• Book Chapters

  • Bathurst JC, Birkinshaw SJ, Cisneros Espinosa F, Iroume A. Forest impact on flood peak discharge and sediment yield in streamflow. In: River System Analysis and Management. Springer Singapore, 2016, pp.15-29.
  • Ewen J, Bathurst JC, Parkin G, O'Connell E, Birkinshaw SJ, Adams R, Hiley RA, Kilsby CG, Burton A. SHETRAN physically-based distributed river basin modelling system. In: Singh VP; Frevert DK, ed. Mathematical Models of Small Watershed Hydrology and Applications. Highlands Reach, Colorado: Water Resources Publications, 2002, pp.43-68.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Ntigkakis C, Birkinshaw S, Stirling R, Thomas B. Urban hydrogeologic uncertainty characterisation to evaluate risk of groundwater flooding. In: EGU General Assembly 2024. 2024, Vienna, Austria.
  • Ntigkakis C, Birkinshaw S, Stirling R, Thomas B. Urban hydrogeologic uncertainty characterisation to evaluate risk of groundwater flooding. In: American Geophysical Union. 2024, Washington, D.C: American Geophysical Union.
  • Krivtsov V, Birkinshaw S, Forbes H, Olive V, Chamberlain D, Lomax J, Buckman J, Yahr R, Arthur S, Takezawa K, Christie D. Hydrology, ecology and water chemistry of two suds ponds: Detailed analysis of ecosystem services provided by blue-green infrastructure. In: WIT Transactions on the Built Environment. 2020, WITPress.
  • Jonczyk J, Quinn P, Heidrich O, Dawson R, Birkinshaw S, James P, Harris N, Pearson D. Demonstration of a green-blue approach for a strategic management of urban runoff. In: AGU Fall Meeting. 2016, San Francisco, USA: American Geophysical Union (AGU).
  • Miller PE, Mills JP, Barr SL, Birkinshaw SJ. Geospatial data integration for assessing landslide hazard on engineered slopes. In: XXII Congress of the International Society for Remote Sensing. 2012, Melbourne, Australia: ISPRS.
  • Miller PE, Hardy AJ, Mills JP, Barr SL, Birkinshaw SJ, Parkin G, Glendinning S, Hall JW. Intelligent integration of multi-sensor data for risk assessment in transport corridor environments. In: ISPRS Workshop: High-Resolution Earth Imaging for Geospatial Information. 2009, Hannover: ISPRS.
  • Davies O, Rouainia M, Glendinning S, Birkinshaw SJ. Predicting seasonal shrink swell cycles within a clay cutting. In: Advances in Transportation Geotechnics: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics. 2008, Nottingham, UK: Taylor Francis.
  • Bathurst JC, Amezaga JM, Birkinshaw SJ, Calder IR. Forests and floods in Latin America: physical processes, policy implications and the EPIC FORCE project. In: Proc. 9th British Hydrological Society National Hydrology Symposium. 2006, Durham: British Hydrological Society.
  • Bathurst JC, Birkinshaw SJ, Bovolo CI. Use of decision support systems to analyse policy effects. In: The MEDRAP Concerted Action to support the Northern Mediterranean Action Programme to Combat Desertification. Workshop results & Proceedings. 2004, Sassari, Italy: Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione.
  • Parkin G, Pollacco J, Birkinshaw S. Predicting the impact of afforestation or deforestation on recharge using only time series soil moisture and hydrometeorological data. In: International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. 2003, Townsville, Australia: University of Western Australia.
  • Nasr A, Bruen M, Parkin G, Birkinshaw SJ, Moles R, Byrne P. Modelling phosphorous loss from agriculture catchments: a comparison of the performance of SWAT, HSPF and SHETRAN for the Clarianna catchment. In: Proceedings of IWA DipCom, 7th Special Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Basin Management. 2003, Dublin.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Rao Z, Parkin G. Neural networks and numerical models - a hybrid approach for predicting groundwater abstraction impacts. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Hydroinformatics. 2002, Cardiff, UK: IWA Publishing.
  • Bathurst JC, Birkinshaw SJ. Modelling the variation of sediment yield with catchment area. In: 27th EGS General Assembly. 2002, Nice, France: Geophysical Research Abstracts: Copernicus GmbH.
  • Birkinshaw SJ, Parkin G, Nisbett T, Calder IR, Reid I. Modelling the effect of a Corsican pine forest on nitrate pollution. In: Third International Conference on Water Resources and Environment Research (ICWRER). 2002, Dresden, Germany.

• Editorials

  • Birkinshaw SJ. Comment on “A paradigm shift in understanding and quantifying the effects of forest harvesting on floods in snow environments” by Kim C. Green and Younes Alila. Water Resources Research 2014, 50(3), 2765–2768.
  • Bathurst JC. Comment on "A paradigm shift in understanding and quantifying the effects of forest harvesting on floods in snow environments'' by K. C. Green and Y. Alila. Water Resources Research 2014, 50(3), 2756-2758.

• Notes

  • Smith BA, Birkinshaw SJ, Lewis E, McGrady E, Sayers P. Corrigendum: Physically-based modelling of UK river flows under climate change (Frontiers in Water, (2024), 6, (1468855), 10.3389/frwa.2024.1468855). Frontiers in Water 2025, 7, 1544878.
  • Carr AS, Chase BM, Birkinshaw SJ, Holmes PJ, Rabumbulu M, Stewart BA. Palaeo-landscapes and hydrology in the South African interior: Implications for human history. South African Journal of Science 2024, 120(3-4), 17569.