Environmental Change and Resilience
Environmental Change and Resilience Research Cluster
Director: Dr Jennifer McKinley
Telephone: +44 (0) 28 9097 3827
Email: j.mckinley@qub.ac.uk
The EC&R Cluster facilitates and cultivates interdisciplinary research across the disciplines of Civil Engineering, Physical Geography and Palaeoecology. Interdisciplinary research within the Cluster is well placed to address the global challenges of resilience to short-term environmental risks to infrastructure, natural and built heritage and long-term environmental change; health and the environment; the dynamics of our planet; land resource mapping and conservation through remote sensing and Geographical Information Science (GIS); big data analysis; spatial and temporal modelling.
Our current sub-cluster groups include:
2) Health, environment and contaminated land
3) Landscape and climate change resilience
4) Smart Infrastructure and bio-based Materials
5) Geotechnical resilience and materials
6) Peatlands, hydrogeology and wetlands.
Cluster Staff
Academic Staff |
Key Interests |
|
|---|---|---|
| Dr G. Amato |
|
g.amato@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr M. Blaauw | I am interested in using statistics to answer palaeo-ecological questions. I am working on radiocarbon calibration, age-depth modelling, and statistical/ecological interpretations of fossil proxy archives. | maarten.blaauw@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr S. Cox |
|
s.cox@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr. R. Doherty | r.doherty@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr T. Elliot | Environmental & Applied Tracers for natural & engineered systems; Hydrogeochemistry and water quality; Groundwater dating and palaeoclimatology; Regional-scale aquifer systems; Aquifer Sustainability issues; Water Resources Management. | t.elliot@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr R. Flood | My research interests are in geochemistry of tropical estuarine and deltaic coastal environments, particularly how estuaries and deltas have changed over the course of the Holocene (c. last 11,000 years). My PhD research explored the sedimentary processes and provenance of the Ganges-Brahamputra Delta, with my research published in international peer-reviewed journals: Sedimentary Geology, Applied Geochemistry, and Marine Geology. I have expanded my research into the relationships between geomorphology and climate, particularly developing approaches to understanding carbon burial in tropical estuaries and mangroves. | r.flood@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr R. Flynn | Dr Raymond Flynn's principal research interests relate to the role of groundwater in the wider environment. Recent on-going projects include quantifying blanket bog ecosystem services to water and field scale experimental investigation of salt water intrusion into coastal aquifers. Dr. Flynn acted as the principal hydrologist in the development of the Irish Government's Peatland Management Programme. His other research interests include wetland habitat restoration and the mobility of colloids in the water cycle. | r.flynn@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr G. Hamill | g.a.hamill@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr D. Hester | My primary research interest is in bridge Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). With a particular focus on investigating instrumentation which is practical/cost effective, and developing data interpretation approaches that deliver information useful for decision support. | d.hester@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr D. Hughes | d.hughes@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr M. Karimirad | I am carrying out research on analysis, testing, development and design of offshore renewable energy structures. This covers offshore wind turbines both floating and bottom-fixed, wave energy converters, tidal turbines as well as floating solar units. I am particularly interested in the coupled analysis of offshore structures subjected to the simultaneous action of wave, wind and current. This requires coupled time-domain analysis accounting for aero-hydro-servo-elastic considerations, modelling and numerical analysis. | madjid.karimirad@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr P. Mackinnon | Current research focus is on the optimisation of active control systems for combined rainwater harvesting/stormwater attenuation systems which use rainfall forecasting in the aim of alleviating flooding. Other recent research has focused on the extraction of power using tidal turbines. | p.mackinnon@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr Jennifer McKinley (Research Cluster Director) | My research has focused on the development and application of spatial analysis techniques, including geostatistics, compositional data analysis and Geographical Information Science (GIS) in the areas of soil geochemistry, environmental and criminal forensics, renewable energy and sustainability, field and remotely sensed geotechnical applications, peatland monitoring, air quality, the environment and human health (cancer studies, renal disease and most recently spatial mapping and analysis of Covid-19). | j.mckinley@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr John McKinley | As a Senior Lecturer (Education) Dr McKinley focuses on pedagogy, particularly on criteria-based assessment and eLearning. | john.mckinley@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr D. McPolin | Dr McPolin’s research is in the area of structures and materials. He has focused on timber engineering, engineered wood products and connections. He also has extensive experience cementitious systems and concrete durability. Much of his research is applied and related directly to industrial organisations. | d.mcpolin@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr D. Mullan | I am broadly an applied climatologist with primary research focus on developing regional and local climate scenarios and modelling how climate change impacts various systems and sectors. Recent examples have included the response of soil erosion and muddy flooding, peatlands, permafrost, river and lake ice, and ice road infrastructure to climate change. | d.mullan@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr A. Newton | My current research uses geological, geophysical, and petrophysical data to develop integrated models of the subsurface to explore how Carbon Capture and Storage may (or may not) work. My other research focuses broadly on high latitude-altitude settings and exploring past environmental changes, their causes, and their potential as analogues for future climate changes. | a.newton@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr K. O'Driscoll | My research is focused on developing numerical models for studying and simulating ocean dynamics and systems, and the impacts of anthropogenic pressures on these, including climate change and problematical contaminants such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and plastics. The models developed are highly integrated and interdisciplinary, and include coupled hydrodynamic, chemical fate, ecosystem, atmospheric, and sediment models/modules. Other research interests include ocean renewable energy issues. | kieran.odriscoll@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr U. Ofterdinger | The overarching theme of Ulrich's research portfolio is the characterisation of complex geohydrological and environmental systems with an emphasis of better understanding the underlying governing processes and the potential impacts to the environment and human health." | u.ofterdinger@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr D. Phillips |
Dr. Debra Phillips researches a broad range of topics in Environmental Engineering. Most of her studies are on contaminated land characterisation, fate and transport of contaminants in surface water and groundwater, drinking water treatment, and monitoring of harmful substances in the environment. |
d.phillips@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr Gill Plunkett |
My research interests lie mainly in looking at the relationships between humans and their environment, including the causes and impacts of past environmental change. My work entails the use of multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental methods (pollen, plant macrofossils, tephrochronology) applied to peat, lake or polar ice records. |
g.plunkett@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr R. Rabett | The main focus of my current research involves bringing archaeology and palaeoecology into contemporary biodiversity and cultural heritage conservation. This work is centered in northern Vietnam where I have been leading a field project since 2016 within the Trang An World Heritage site. I also have a long-standing interest in early human adaptation and colonisation of new environments, including islands and periglacial settings. | r.rabett@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr P. Reimer |
My main research interest is on extending and refining the internationally ratified radiocarbon calibration curves. I am also interested in all aspects of radiocarbon dating and applications in archaeology, carbon cycling, ecology and palaeoenvironment. |
p.j.reimer@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr D. Robinson | des.robinson@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr H. Roe | Response of ecosystems (particularly lakes and peatlands) to environmental change; development of biomonitoring approaches in lakes; use of quantitative multi-proxy techniques to aid palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. | h.roe@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr A. Ruffell |
|
a.ruffell@qub.ac.uk |
| Dr V. Sivakumar | v.sivakumar@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr M. Sonebi | 3D Printing of Concrete, Bio-Based Building Materials, Rheology of Cement-based Materials, Self-Compacting Concrete, Sustainable Construction Materials, Nanotechnology, BFRP, Structural Health Monitoring, Use of Industrial by-products. | m.sonebi@qub.ac.uk |
| Prof G. Swindles |
Professor Graeme Swindles is an Earth System Scientist with research interests in past-present-future environmental change, ecology and palaeoecology, peatlands, and human-environment relations. |
g.swindles@qub.ac.uk |
| Prof S. Taylor | s.e.taylor@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr P. Warke | p.warke@qub.ac.uk | |
| Prof T. Whittaker | t.whittaker@qub.ac.uk |
Example Projects
|
REMEDIATE is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) funded Innovative Training Network (ITN). The network is made up of 8 beneficiaries from five EU member states - the UK, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, and Italy - and 18 partner organisations. All participants in the project are committed to providing innovative research and training for more cost effective and sustainable remediation of contaminated land. 12 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) have taken part in a structured and integrated research and training programme to provide them with a highly specific blend of personalised technical and transferable skills. The network is a multidisciplinary collaboration between internationally renowned research teams from academia and industry, each with complementary expertise in a wide range of site investigation and risk assessment technologies. Staff from the Environmental Change and Resilience Cluster have supervised 3 of the ESRs on the programme. |