The deterioration in water quality across the world over recent decades as a result of nutrient pollution is now a huge environmental problem. The need to restore the water quality of lakes is stimulating the use of a range of remediation techniques. This PhD will take advantage of a unique natural experiment in which pollution […]
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Satellites and other high-resolution imaging techniques have enabled landscape ecologists to explore the spatial ecology of terrestrial biological communities, such as forests, for decades. The same opportunity has not existed in the sub-tidal marine environment, except for habitat mapping at course taxonomic resolutions. With the development of high-resolution underwater imaging, landscape-scale spatial data sets at […]
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Bioaerosols consist of biota such as pollen, fungal spores, bacteria and viruses and include plant allergens that negatively affect human health. Almost a quarter of people display allergic reactions to combinations of tree and grass pollen causing symptoms ranging from hay fever to asthma, with associated socio-economic costs to society and health services. Identifying pollen […]
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Air bubbles trapped in the ice of the Earth’s cold regions provide a unique, fascinating and long term record of atmospheric composition. Ice-core records of reactive gases are a relatively recent innovation, and potentially offer constraints on aspects of the past ~10000 years where there is little consensus (or investigation) with climate models. In this […]
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Sea-level rise and enhanced storminess, driven by climate change, is greatly increasing coastal vulnerability and the impacts of coastal recession worldwide. Although coastal cliffs provide valuable natural protection, they also present rockfall and landslide hazards; thus, understanding the processes involved in coastal recession is vital in order to implement appropriate sustainable management strategies to carefully […]
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Every summer, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets develop a rash of supraglacial lakes around their edges. When they grow large enough, the water they contain can drain into the ice beneath which can either lubricate flow on grounded ice or structurally weaken floating ice shelves. Both of these impacts can lead to increased ice […]
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This project will explore the mobilisation and bioaccumulation of heavy metal contaminants from historic mine waste from old mine sites in Wales, and their impact on wildlife health. This is a unique, interdisciplinary project involving environmental geochemistry, ecology, plant science and animal health, involving colleagues at the University of Nottingham, the Natural History Museum, and […]
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Many freshwater fisheries of ecological and economic importance are in decline, while populations of piscivorous (fish-eating) birds such as goosanders and cormorants are increasing. This has led to growing pressure from the angling community to control numbers of these birds, and it also poses a challenge to the designation and management of protected riverine areas […]
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Methane (CH4) emissions are far more devastating to global climate than carbon dioxide as it is 21-times more potent a greenhouse gas on a per molecule basis. The International Panel for Climate Change recognise lakes as a major source of CH4 accounting for 20% of global emissions. Despite the key role of lakes in the […]
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Climate change poses many risks to human health and historical insights can enhance understanding of human vulnerabilities and inform potential consequences of future climate change on the spread of disease. This project aims to establish the climatic niche of bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis); in its own right and relative to its insect vectors, specifically using […]
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