Kate Halstead
BSc, MSc, PhD
Kate Halstead
BSc, MSc, PhDClimate Change Scientist - Wind Risk Modeller
Climate change
Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9SY
About Kate Halstead
Kate graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2019 with a BSc in Physical Geography, followed by an MSc in Surveying in 2020. After working in industry for several years, she undertook a PhD at Newcastle University in collaboration with Action Oak and Forest Research, graduating in 2025. Her PhD research investigated the influence of oak health on susceptibility to storm damage during Storm Arwen, combining remote sensing and wind risk modelling approaches.
Following her PhD, Kate joined Forest Research as a Climate Change Scientist and Wind Risk Modeller. Her research interests include forest resilience to extreme weather events, the interactions between tree health and wind damage, and the impacts of climate change on forest stability.
What Kate does
Kate is a Climate Change Scientist and Wind Risk Modeller at Forest Research. She is responsible for the application, maintenance, and development of the ForestGALES wind risk model.
As part of the Wind Risk Team, her work focuses on assessing the vulnerability of forests to wind damage across Europe and beyond, supporting efforts to improve forest resilience and adaptation to increasing storm risks associated with climate change.
She continues to collaborate with Action Oak and is involved in a range of wind risk projects across Europe and New Zealand.
Affiliations
- Member of the Royal Forestry Society
- Member of the British Ecological Society
Other Publications
- Watt, M.S., Halstead, K., Locatelli, T., Camarretta, N., Jayathunga, S. and Suárez, J.C. (2026) ‘Genotypic and Silvicultural Controls on Wind Damage, Failure Mode, and Productivity in a Radiata Pine Trial Following Cyclone Gabrielle’, Forests, 17(2), p. 269. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020269.
- Halstead, K., Watt, M.S., Camarretta, N., Gardiner, B., Suárez, J.C. and Locatelli, T. (2026) ‘Performance of the ForestGALES Model in Predicting Wind Damage Patterns in a New Zealand Radiata Pine Trial Following Cyclone Gabrielle’, Forests, 17(5), p. 527. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/f17050527.
- Halstead, K., Sanderson, R., Bonomo, S., Quine, C., Suggitt, A. and Gaulton, R. (2025) ‘Identifying individual drivers of damage to oak during severe UK storms in winter 2021’, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 373, p. 110797. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110797.
- Halstead, K., Gaulton, R., Sanderson, R., Suggitt, A. and Quine, C. (2024) ‘Localised damage patterns to oak during severe UK storms in winter 2021’, Forest Ecology and Management, 562, p. 121942. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121942.