Contact
Biography
I am currently Professor of River Science and the Director of Research in the School of Geography. I was awarded a BSc Geography from the 糖心原创 in 2005, MSc Environmental Monitoring for Management from Loughborough University in 2006, and a PhD from Loughborough University in 2011.
My research interest is in understanding the interlinkages between hydrological, geomorphological and ecological processes and systems in rivers to inform more successful, and more sustainable, management of freshwaters.
Teaching Summary
My teaching reflects my research experience, being focused on river processes and management. My modules include field trips and laboratory work, as well as engagement with management practitioners… read more
Research Summary
I am interested in how aquatic organisms occupy, utilise and modify environments, working at the interface of hydrology, geomorphology and ecology.
A list of my academic outputs is available at my page.
I am currently working on:
1) The ability of living organisms to alter physical processes, such as sediment transport, in rivers.
Living organisms can alter environments through their presence and activity, with implications for geomorphic and biochemical processes. I am interested in how invertebrate animals alter the flow of material through river systems, including the destabilisation of river beds and banks by the invasive signal crayfish (e.g. ), which can also increase the transport of sediment through rivers (e.g.link). Organisms can also stabilise river substrates (e.g. ) and alter the dynamics of sediment grains (e.g. ).
2) The impacts of water quality and pollution on aquatic ecosystems.
I research pollutants in rivers, including the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in freshwater organisms (e.g. ), the presence of microplastics in rivers (e.g. ) and the complex role of anthropogenic waste to aquatic communities (e.g. ). I am particularly concerned with the sub-lethal impacts of pollutants on invertebrate organisms across multiple life stages (e.g ).
Rising water temperature also has significant impacts on water quality and aquatic communities in rivers (e.g. ). I am working on how to identify and increase resilience of rivers to future warming (e.g. ).
3) Better incorporation of ecological processes into river management frameworks.
My work is applied and I work with many partners in government, industry and charitable organisations. I am working on projects in the USA (e.g. ), China (e.g. ), Brazil (e.g. ) and UK (e.g. ) on novel river management schemes, which aim to better account for ecological processes in river management (e.g. )
I supervise Research Masters and PhD students working on freshwater science and management. My current students are:
Zhenghang Chen (2024) Modelling flash flooding in mountainous regions for improved risk management. UNNC scholarship.
Jintao Lu (2024) Using high resolution nutrient dynamics data to investigate sustainable reservoir regulation. UNNC DTP.
Xi He (2023) Restoring and rewilding rivers: social perceptions and ecological expectations. School of Geography Scholarship.
Jake Dimon (2023) Restoring oil palm rivers: assessing the effects of riparian re-vegetation and in-channel modifications on biodiversity and functionality. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Zilin Wang (2023) Understanding the Water-Carbon-Energy nexus in hydropower. UNNC scholarship.
Ed Dilks (2022) The impact of small impoundments and connectivity loss on fish distribution and abundance in river ecosystems: leveraging cutting edge geospatial modelling and eDNA approaches. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Katherine Hart (2022) A river catchment classification framework to optimise and inform future freshwater monitoring and policy in the UK. School of Geography scholarship
Melissa Mayer (2021) Detection, identification and quantification of microplastics in water. EPSRC scholarship; Molecular Imaging and Analysis DTP.
My graduated students are:
Lingwen Lu (2022-2025) . UNNC-IUE CAS DTP.
Jiayu Wang (2022-2025) Advancing Sustainable Management of Chemicals via Mapping Material Cycles and Related Environmental Impacts of Key Chemicals. UNNC-IUE CAS DTP.
Tianyang Du (2019-2024) . Vice Chancellors scholarship for research excellence.
Calum Ramage (2019-2024) . NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Isobel Evans (2023-2024) Microplastic ingestion and egestion by freshwater invertebrates. MRes.
Hannah Markham (2019-2024) Impact of elevated phosphorus and fine sediment on aquatic invertebrate egg development. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Cesar Rodrigues (2019-2024) . Sir Francis Hill scholarship.
Yuyao Xu (2018-2022). Quantifying microplastics in freshwater environments in China. UNNC scholarship.
Amit Kumar (2018-2022) . Vice Chancellors scholarship for research excellence.
Abdulaziz Alsalah (2018-2022) . King Saud University scholarship.
Andrea Sartorius (2018-2022). . NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Alistair Delboyer (2017-2021) . Leverhulme MASS scholarship.
Hazel Wilson (2017-2021). . EPSRC Engineering Water Resilience DTP.
Fernando Garz贸n (2017-2020). . Ceiba Scholarship.
Emily Richardson (2019-2020) . MRes.
Richard Mason (2016-2020) . NERC CENTA scholarship.
Beth Dunstan (2019-2020) . MRes.
Mikaela D'Souza (2018-2019) . MRes.
Samuel Valman (2018-2019) Developing a typology of streams in the anthropocene: Disconnections between controls on river characteristics. MRes.
Thomas Stanton (2016-2019). . Sir Francis Hill scholarship.
Liberty Mgbanyi (2015-2019). . Tetfund scholarship.
Thomas Stanton (2015-2016) . MRes.
Past Research
I am interested in how aquatic organisms occupy, utilise and modify environments, working at the interface of hydrology, geomorphology and ecology.
A list of my academic outputs is available at my page.
I am currently working on:
1) The ability of living organisms to alter physical processes, such as sediment transport, in rivers.
Living organisms can alter environments through their presence and activity, with implications for geomorphic and biochemical processes. I am interested in how invertebrate animals alter the flow of material through river systems, including the destabilisation of river beds and banks by the invasive signal crayfish (e.g. ), which can also increase the transport of sediment through rivers (e.g.link). Organisms can also stabilise river substrates (e.g. ) and alter the dynamics of sediment grains (e.g. ).
2) The impacts of water quality and pollution on aquatic ecosystems.
I research pollutants in rivers, including the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in freshwater organisms (e.g. ), the presence of microplastics in rivers (e.g. ) and the complex role of anthropogenic waste to aquatic communities (e.g. ). I am particularly concerned with the sub-lethal impacts of pollutants on invertebrate organisms across multiple life stages (e.g ).
Rising water temperature also has significant impacts on water quality and aquatic communities in rivers (e.g. ). I am working on how to identify and increase resilience of rivers to future warming (e.g. ).
3) Better incorporation of ecological processes into river management frameworks.
My work is applied and I work with many partners in government, industry and charitable organisations. I am working on projects in the USA (e.g. ), China (e.g. ), Brazil (e.g. ) and UK (e.g. ) on novel river management schemes, which aim to better account for ecological processes in river management (e.g. )