Richard L Bello | Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change

Associate Professor

Credentials

PhD Geography , McMaster University
BA Geography , McMaster University

Research Keywords

Global/Climate Change; Geography; Climate Science; Northern Environments; Carbon Dynamics; Measurement Of Greenhouse Gas Exchange; Hudson Bay Lowlands; Toronto's Urban Environment.

Contact Information

bello@yorku.ca

Research Interests

My undergraduate courses link climate science with physical hydrology and plant biology, with a particular emphasis on northern environments. SC/GEOG 2400 The Hydrosphere; SC/GEOG 4205 Climates of High Latitudes; SC/GEOG 4210 Hydrometeorology; SC/GEOG 4215 Ecological Climatology. For the past three decades, graduate students have driven my northern field research program which focuses on the water balance and greenhouse gas exchange from the peatlands and ponds in the Hudson Bay Lowlands based out of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre in Churchill Manitoba. I have a particular interest in how climate change is altering sea-ice on Hudson Bay and in turn, modifying the permafrost and vegetation in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. I have recently developed a new research program examining the hydrology and carbon dynamics of Eastern White Cedar forests of the Bruce Peninsula.

Research Output

Olalekan Balogun, Richard Bello, Kaz Higuchi, Long-Term Response of Peatland Carbon Exchange to Climatic Changes in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, First published: 25 April 2024, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007873

Balogun, O., Bello, R., and Higuchi, K. (2023). Terrestrial CO2 exchange diagnosis using a peatland-optimized vegetation photosynthesis and respiration model (VPRM) for the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Science of The Total Environment, 162591.

Balogun, O., Bello, R., and Higuchi, K. (2022). NARR-based analysis of changes in the mesoscale wind and temperature over the Hudson Bay Lowlands and their impact on the surface energy balance: 1979–2018. Polar Science, 100861.

Zhu, H., Liu, J., Zhou, X., Chen, X., Qiu, X., Bello, R., Deng, Z. The Ontario Climate Data Portal, a user-friendly portal of Ontario-specific climate projections. Sci Data 7, 147 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0489-4.

Bello, Richard and K Higuchi, 2019. Changing Surface Radiation and Energy Budgets of the Hudson Bay Complex using the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) model. Arctic Science. DOI 10.1139/AS-2018-0034.

Ghunowa, Kimisha, AS Medeiros, R Bello, 2019. Hyperspectral analysis of algal biomass in northern lakes, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, Arctic Science, DOI 10.1139/AS-2018-0030.

Kent, Alex, T.D.Drezner and R. Bello, 2018. The arrival of potentially invasive species into boreal forest and tundra of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada. Polar Biology, Polar Biology (2018) 41:2007–2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2341-2.

Ashtine, Masao, Richard Bello, Kaz Higuchi, 2016. Assessment of wind energy potential over Ontario and Great Lakes using the NARR data: 1980–2012.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 56, p272-282.

Ashtine M, R Bello, K Higuchi, 2016. Feasibility of small wind turbines in Ontario: Integrating power curves with wind trends. Resources, 5 (44), 14pp.

Delidjakova KK, R Bello, K Higuchi, 2016. The influence of Hudson Bay on the carbon dynamics of a Hudson Bay Lowlands coastal site. Arctic Science. 2016 2(3): 142-163, https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2015-0026.

Xiaogang Wang, Jiafeng Wang, Curtis Russell, Paul Proctor, Richard Bello, Kaz Higuchi and Huaiping Zhu, 2014. Clustering of the Abundance of West Nile Virus Vector Mosquitoes in Peel Region, Ontario, Canada, Environmental and Ecological Statistics, 10.1007/s10651-014-0273-8.

Olalekan Balogun, Richard Bello and Kaz Higuchi (2022). Spatial Variability of the 40-year Changes in Winds, Temperature and Surface Energy Balance Fluxes over Peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Paper presentation at the ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting, December 2022.

Olalekan Balogun, Richard Bello and Kaz Higuchi (2022). Mesoscale Wind and Temperature Changes over Peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands and their Impact on the Surface Energy Balance. Paper presented at the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS), the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU), and the Eastern Snow Conference (ESC) Joint Conference, June 2022.

Olalekan Balogun, Richard Bello and Kaz Higuchi (2021). Climatic Changes in the Mesoscale Wind and Temperatures in the Hudson Bay Lowlands: Impact on the Surface Energy Balance. Paper presented at the Canadian Association of Geographers–Ontario Division Annual Meeting, Western University, November 2021.

Courses

Course Code	Title
Winter 2021 GS/GEOG5608	Hydrometeorology
Winter 2021 EU/GEOG4210	Hydrometeorology
Fall 2020 EU/GEOG4215	Ecological Climatology
Fall 2020 GS/GEOG5607	Ecological Climatology
Fall 2020 GS/GEOG5630	Physical Hydrology of Water
Fall/Winter 2020 EU/GEOG2400	The Hydrosphere