Dr Scott McGrane

Senior Lecturer

Economics

Personal statement

I am a University of Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow (Society and Policy) since May 2019, having originally joined the Department of Economics (Fraser of Allander Institute) at the University of Strathclyde in September 2017, working on a collaborative project alongside the Department of Physics and the Stanford Photonics Research Center. 

 

My backrgound is in environmental science, though I pride myself in being a truly interdisciplinary researcher. My qualifications include an MA(Hons) in Geography and Environmental Science, and a Master of Research (MRes) in Civil Engineering, both from the University of Dundee. I completed my PhD at the University of Aberdeen in 2013 in catchment hydrology, undertaking research that explored the impacts of environmental perturbations on natural river dynamics in Scottish uplands. 

 

My research interests have continued to address the impacts of environmental change on large river systems. Between 2013 and 2016 I worked as a research fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Surrey, working on a NERC funded project that sought to assess and model the impacts of urbanisation and climate change on water quality in the Thames Basin. In 2016, I moved to the School of Mathematics & Statistics at the University of Glasgow, working on an EPSRC project that sought to determine the interlinkages and feedbacks that exist between water, energy and food systems in the UK. 

 

I am the Honorary Treasurer (and executive committee member) for the British Hydrological Society. I also serve as an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the upcoming Sixth Assessment Report, and I am part of the Position Statement authorship team for the American Geophysical Union, where I was recently involved in the determination of a climate change position statement for 2019. 

 

My research investigates the role natural resources play in economic systems, and identifying the impacts of environmental change on economic sectors at a regional, national and international scale. Through my involvement with the Global Environmental Measurement and Monitoring (GEMM) Network at Strathclyde, I seek to explore how advances in earth observational technologies can better inform us on the likely impacts of climate change at a sub-national level, helping to drive the development of relative climate and environmental policies. 

 

I am open to supporting PhD students that are interested in the role of the natural environment in economic systems, and undertaking transdisciplinary approaches to understanding the likely impacts of environmental change on human-environment systems (including economic impacts, health impacts, environmental system impacts and natural hazards).

Publications

A water stress perspective on the UK’s water footprint
Allan Grant, Lochhead Rhona, McGrane Scott
Applied Economics Letters Vol 30, pp. 649-656 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.2009111
The many sizes and characters of the Blue Economy
Graziano Marcello, Alexander Karen A, McGrane Scott J, Allan Grant J, Lema Evangelia
Ecological Economics Vol 196 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107419
Development of a prototype composite index for resilience and security of water-energy-food (WEF) systems in industrialised nations
Shu Qingying, Scott Marian, Todman Lindsay, McGrane Scott J
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators Vol 11 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2021.100124
Water quality : the missing dimension of water in the water–energy–food nexus
Heal K V, Bartosova A, Hipsey M R, Chen X, Buytaert W, Li H-Y, McGrane S, Gupta A B, Cudennec C
Hydrological Processes Vol 66, pp. 745-758 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2020.1859114
Scotland's industrial water use : understanding recent changes and examining the future
Allan Grant J, McGrane Scott J, Roy Graeme, Baer Thomas M
Environmental Science and Policy Vol 106, pp. 48-57 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.005
Society must address the growing climate crisis now
McGrane Scott
(2019)

More publications

Professional activities

The Impact of Water Quality on Regional Economic Growth
Speaker
11/2022
University Of Strathclyde (Organisational unit)
Member
10/10/2022
Hydrology Research (Journal)
Peer reviewer
12/8/2022
Ecological Economics (Journal)
Peer reviewer
12/5/2022
Peter Wolf Symposium
Participant
22/3/2022
Taylor and Francis Group (Publisher)
Peer reviewer
1/2/2022

More professional activities

Projects

Effects of climate change on minewater geothermal prospects: An assessment of minewater resource climate resilience and implications for decarbonising heating and cooling
Burnside, Neil (Principal Investigator) McGrane, Scott (Co-investigator) Roberts, Jen (Co-investigator) Gillen, Clodagh (Post Grad Student)
01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2026
Assessing the Economic Impacts of Environmental Extremes on Water, Energy and Food (WEF) Resources in California
McGrane, Scott (Principal Investigator)
This PhD studentship will address the impacts of environmental extremes on the economy of the US State of California. The research will explore how the structure of the California economy has changed in the past 20 years, and assess how alterations to the natural environment have impacted the way the economy operates. It will specifically address the impacts of drought on water, energy and food systems, seeking to determine where vulnerabilities are within the economy to climatic change.
26-Jan-2022 - 25-Jan-2025
Strathclyde Knowledge Exchange Development Fund
Wilson, Andrew (Principal Investigator) McGrane, Scott (Co-investigator) Gordeyev, Sergey (Co-investigator)
A collaborative project between economics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering to develop connections between then business community and life cycle analysis expertise
01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2023
EPSRC IAA Bridging the Gap
Owens, Steven Robert (Principal Investigator) McGrane, Scott (Co-investigator) Allan, Grant (Co-investigator) Macdonald, Malcolm (Co-investigator)
EPSRC Impact Accelerator Account funded Bridging the Gap project, awarded jointly with Dr Steven Owens, Professor Malcolm MacDonald and Dr Grant Allan to investigate connecting environmental remote observation data with socioeconomic data to inventory opportunities for project creation and data access options
01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2023
NERC One OceanHub
McGrane, Scott (Co-investigator) Comerford, David (Co-investigator)
The multidisciplianry One OceanHub project will be a NERC funded programme over 5 years addressing the sustainability of our engagement with the oceans from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Our role is to assess the role of the ocean in national economies, and assess ways that future environmental change my impact economic activities and trade in developing nations.
07-Jan-2019 - 31-Jan-2024

More projects