Current ProJects
SMARTWATER: Diagnosing controls of pollution hot spots and hot moments and their impact on catchment water quality
2023-28
PI: Prof. Stefan Krause
Lead institution: University of Birmingham
Funders: NERC-NSFGEO - £3.7M
PlasticUnderground: Integrated Cross-Sectoral Solutions to Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution in Soil and Groundwater Ecosystems
2022-26
PI: Prof. Stefan Krause
Lead institution: University of Lyon
Funder: European Union Horizon Europe - €2.5M
Recent evidence of increasing accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics (MnP) in soils and groundwater raise severe concerns by agricultural and water industries, food manufacturers, regulators, environmental interest groups and citizens. Private and public sectors require detailed understanding of environmental and public health risks posed by MnP in soils and groundwater. The PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network creates supra-disciplinary intersectoral capacity for analysing the fate, transport and impacts of MnP in soils and groundwater to develop solutions for reducing their environmental and public health risks, supporting the EC’s circular plastic economy strategy. The central aim of the PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network is to deliver international scientific excellence through a holistic supra-disciplinary and inter-sectoral research and training network on solutions to the emerging crisis of MnP pollution in subsurface ecosystems in soils and groundwater, integrating knowledge across traditional discipline boundaries to benefit the public and private sectors. The supra-disciplinary research programme includes unique training opportunities for a cohort of 10 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) (plus one individually funded through ETHZ [CH] and three funded through UoB, RU and Polymateria [UKRI] as Associated Partners) in environmental and social science, ecotoxicology, soil science and aquatic ecology, analytical chemistry, agronomy, data science and numerical modelling as well as responsible innovation, method standardization for use in regulatory decision making and risk assessment. The integrated training programme will prepare DCs with skill sets that are urgently required in agricultural, water, chemical, and manufacturing industries, environmental and regulatory agencies, academia, and the public sector and includes training provision by key stakeholders that will directly benefit from the training in this network.
Spatial and temporal distribution of microplastics in mangrove swamps
2019-Present
PIs: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, Prof. Stefan Krause, Prof. Sami Ullah, Prof. Nick Kettridge, Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Prof. Hue Thi Van Le
Institutions: University of Birmingham, Vietnam National University
Funders: Institute for Global Innovation at the University of Birmingham, UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund
Spatial and temporal distribution of tyre and road wear particles in green infrastructure
2023-Present
PIs: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, John Scott
Institutions: University of Birmingham, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Funders: University of Birmingham and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign's BRIDGE Partnership
Ongoing Collaborations
Dr. Ashley Bulseco, University of New Hampshire, U.S. - Coastal carbon and nitrogen cycling
Prof. Zhifeng Yan, Tianjin University, China - Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural ditches
Prof. Humberto Marotta, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil - Aquatic greenhouse gas fluxes
2023-28
PI: Prof. Stefan Krause
Lead institution: University of Birmingham
Funders: NERC-NSFGEO - £3.7M
PlasticUnderground: Integrated Cross-Sectoral Solutions to Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution in Soil and Groundwater Ecosystems
2022-26
PI: Prof. Stefan Krause
Lead institution: University of Lyon
Funder: European Union Horizon Europe - €2.5M
Recent evidence of increasing accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics (MnP) in soils and groundwater raise severe concerns by agricultural and water industries, food manufacturers, regulators, environmental interest groups and citizens. Private and public sectors require detailed understanding of environmental and public health risks posed by MnP in soils and groundwater. The PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network creates supra-disciplinary intersectoral capacity for analysing the fate, transport and impacts of MnP in soils and groundwater to develop solutions for reducing their environmental and public health risks, supporting the EC’s circular plastic economy strategy. The central aim of the PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network is to deliver international scientific excellence through a holistic supra-disciplinary and inter-sectoral research and training network on solutions to the emerging crisis of MnP pollution in subsurface ecosystems in soils and groundwater, integrating knowledge across traditional discipline boundaries to benefit the public and private sectors. The supra-disciplinary research programme includes unique training opportunities for a cohort of 10 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) (plus one individually funded through ETHZ [CH] and three funded through UoB, RU and Polymateria [UKRI] as Associated Partners) in environmental and social science, ecotoxicology, soil science and aquatic ecology, analytical chemistry, agronomy, data science and numerical modelling as well as responsible innovation, method standardization for use in regulatory decision making and risk assessment. The integrated training programme will prepare DCs with skill sets that are urgently required in agricultural, water, chemical, and manufacturing industries, environmental and regulatory agencies, academia, and the public sector and includes training provision by key stakeholders that will directly benefit from the training in this network.
Spatial and temporal distribution of microplastics in mangrove swamps
2019-Present
PIs: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, Prof. Stefan Krause, Prof. Sami Ullah, Prof. Nick Kettridge, Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Prof. Hue Thi Van Le
Institutions: University of Birmingham, Vietnam National University
Funders: Institute for Global Innovation at the University of Birmingham, UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund
Spatial and temporal distribution of tyre and road wear particles in green infrastructure
2023-Present
PIs: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, John Scott
Institutions: University of Birmingham, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Funders: University of Birmingham and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign's BRIDGE Partnership
Ongoing Collaborations
Dr. Ashley Bulseco, University of New Hampshire, U.S. - Coastal carbon and nitrogen cycling
Prof. Zhifeng Yan, Tianjin University, China - Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural ditches
Prof. Humberto Marotta, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil - Aquatic greenhouse gas fluxes
phd supervision
Yuxia Yang 2023-2027
Primary supervisor: Prof. Stefan Krause, Co-supervisors: Prof. Yan Zheng, Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner
Institutions: University of Birmingham, UK and SUSTech, China
Project title: Microplastics fate and transport in underground systems: Distribution, identification, degradation, and transport processes
Linh Duong 2023-2026
Primary supervisors: Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Minh , Prof. Hue Thi Van Le, Co-supervisors: Prof. Stefan Krause, Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner
Institutions: Vietnam National University, Ha Noi (University of Science and Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies) and University of Birmingham, UK
Project title: Fate, transport, and solutions to river microplastic inputs into agricultural soils in the Red River delta
Erina Brown 2023-2029
Primary supervisor: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, Co-supervisors: Prof. Stefan Krause, Dr. Dan Lapworth, Dr. Bentje Brauns
Institutions: University of Birmingham, UK and British Geological Survey
Project title: Fate and transport of micro- and nanoplastics in groundwater
Kexin Li 2023-2027
Primary supervisor: Prof. Stefan Krause, Co-supervisors: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, Iseult Lynch
Institutions: University of Birmingham, UK
Project title: Effects of biofilm on the fate and transport of microplastics in aquatic systems
Primary supervisor: Prof. Stefan Krause, Co-supervisors: Prof. Yan Zheng, Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner
Institutions: University of Birmingham, UK and SUSTech, China
Project title: Microplastics fate and transport in underground systems: Distribution, identification, degradation, and transport processes
Linh Duong 2023-2026
Primary supervisors: Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Minh , Prof. Hue Thi Van Le, Co-supervisors: Prof. Stefan Krause, Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner
Institutions: Vietnam National University, Ha Noi (University of Science and Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies) and University of Birmingham, UK
Project title: Fate, transport, and solutions to river microplastic inputs into agricultural soils in the Red River delta
Erina Brown 2023-2029
Primary supervisor: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, Co-supervisors: Prof. Stefan Krause, Dr. Dan Lapworth, Dr. Bentje Brauns
Institutions: University of Birmingham, UK and British Geological Survey
Project title: Fate and transport of micro- and nanoplastics in groundwater
Kexin Li 2023-2027
Primary supervisor: Prof. Stefan Krause, Co-supervisors: Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, Iseult Lynch
Institutions: University of Birmingham, UK
Project title: Effects of biofilm on the fate and transport of microplastics in aquatic systems
PAST PROJECTS
MarshFlux: The effect of future global climate and land-use change on greenhouse gas fluxes and microbial processes in salt marshes
See the MarshFlux project page for more information.
2020-2023. Marie Skłodowska Curie Global Fellowship
PIs: Prof. Sami Ullah, Prof. Gail Chmura, Prof. Stefan Krause
Affiliations: University of Birmingham, McGill University
Funders: European Union’s European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework.
Coastal wetlands are globally important ecosystems providing valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration over long timescales, affecting global carbon cycling and climate modulation, and nutrient cycling. The amount of carbon sequestered and therefore, the net long-term global cooling potential of coastal marshes, however, is affected by complex biogeochemical reactions in marsh soils, which may produce and/or consume all three of the major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O). The magnitude and direction of these fluxes, and whether marsh soils act as a source or sink of greenhouse gases, is affected by a variety of environmental factors which are predicted to vary with projected global change. MarshFlux, therefore, aimed to address fundamental gaps in understanding of how the global cooling potential of coastal marshes will be affected by responses of biogeochemical reaction rates and greenhouse gas fluxes to global change. The effect of multiple drivers of global change on the response of greenhouse gas fluxes and key microbial processes for the consumption and production of N2O, were investigated focussing on temperature and nutrient-loading and vegetation. This research is critical for effective management of coastal wetlands to maintain their blue carbon value under future global change.
Outputs: Comer-Warner et al., Biogeochemistry 2023, Comer-Warner et al., Environmental Research: Ecology 2022. Conference presentations including EGU, AGU, JASM
See the MarshFlux project page for more information.
2020-2023. Marie Skłodowska Curie Global Fellowship
PIs: Prof. Sami Ullah, Prof. Gail Chmura, Prof. Stefan Krause
Affiliations: University of Birmingham, McGill University
Funders: European Union’s European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework.
Coastal wetlands are globally important ecosystems providing valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration over long timescales, affecting global carbon cycling and climate modulation, and nutrient cycling. The amount of carbon sequestered and therefore, the net long-term global cooling potential of coastal marshes, however, is affected by complex biogeochemical reactions in marsh soils, which may produce and/or consume all three of the major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O). The magnitude and direction of these fluxes, and whether marsh soils act as a source or sink of greenhouse gases, is affected by a variety of environmental factors which are predicted to vary with projected global change. MarshFlux, therefore, aimed to address fundamental gaps in understanding of how the global cooling potential of coastal marshes will be affected by responses of biogeochemical reaction rates and greenhouse gas fluxes to global change. The effect of multiple drivers of global change on the response of greenhouse gas fluxes and key microbial processes for the consumption and production of N2O, were investigated focussing on temperature and nutrient-loading and vegetation. This research is critical for effective management of coastal wetlands to maintain their blue carbon value under future global change.
Outputs: Comer-Warner et al., Biogeochemistry 2023, Comer-Warner et al., Environmental Research: Ecology 2022. Conference presentations including EGU, AGU, JASM
The effect of land-use and restoration on greenhouse gas fluxes and denitrification in tropical coastal wetlands of Vietnam
2019
PIs: Prof. Sami Ullah, Prof. Stefan Krause, Prof. Nick Kettridge, Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Prof. Hue Thi Van Le, Prof. Nghia Nguyen
Affiliations: University of Birmingham, Vietnam National University, Can Tho University
Funders: Institute for Global Innovation at the University of Birmingham, UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund
Coastal wetlands are highly productive systems that sequester large amounts of carbon in their soils and sediments. The term Blue Carbon refers to the carbon stored in mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses, which have received particular attention as carbon stores. Recently, tidal freshwater forested wetlands, which may sequester large amounts of carbon, have been suggested as additional Blue Carbon ecosystems. Coastal wetlands are also areas of enhanced nutrient cycling, which can buffer coastal oceans from nutrient pollution through plant uptake of nutrients and soil microbial processes such as denitrification. These ecosystem services are affected by multiple drivers including changes in land-use, which include deforestation, conversion to agricultural fields and restoration efforts. This project aims to investigate how sediment greenhouse gas fluxes and rates of denitrification vary across areas of differing land-use. This work focusses on mangroves within Xuân Thủy National Park, in the Red River Delta of Vietnam where deforestation as well as restoration projects have occurred and the melaleuca swamp within U Minh Thuong National Park in the south of Vietnam where conversion to agriculture and reforestation after large disturbances have occurred.
Outputs: Comer-Warner et al., STOTEN 2021. Conference presentations including EGU.
2019
PIs: Prof. Sami Ullah, Prof. Stefan Krause, Prof. Nick Kettridge, Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Prof. Hue Thi Van Le, Prof. Nghia Nguyen
Affiliations: University of Birmingham, Vietnam National University, Can Tho University
Funders: Institute for Global Innovation at the University of Birmingham, UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund
Coastal wetlands are highly productive systems that sequester large amounts of carbon in their soils and sediments. The term Blue Carbon refers to the carbon stored in mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses, which have received particular attention as carbon stores. Recently, tidal freshwater forested wetlands, which may sequester large amounts of carbon, have been suggested as additional Blue Carbon ecosystems. Coastal wetlands are also areas of enhanced nutrient cycling, which can buffer coastal oceans from nutrient pollution through plant uptake of nutrients and soil microbial processes such as denitrification. These ecosystem services are affected by multiple drivers including changes in land-use, which include deforestation, conversion to agricultural fields and restoration efforts. This project aims to investigate how sediment greenhouse gas fluxes and rates of denitrification vary across areas of differing land-use. This work focusses on mangroves within Xuân Thủy National Park, in the Red River Delta of Vietnam where deforestation as well as restoration projects have occurred and the melaleuca swamp within U Minh Thuong National Park in the south of Vietnam where conversion to agriculture and reforestation after large disturbances have occurred.
Outputs: Comer-Warner et al., STOTEN 2021. Conference presentations including EGU.
Drivers of microbial metabolism, nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas production in agricultural streambed sediments
2014-2019 PhD Thesis
PIs: Prof. Stefan Krause, Prof. Daren Gooddy
Affiliations: University of Birmingham, British Geological Survey
Funders: UK Natural Environment Research Council, British Geological Survey
The hyporheic zone (HZ) of streambeds, where surface water and groundwater mix, is an area of increased biogeochemical reactivity. This results from a unique mix of substrate concentrations, surfaces, microbial activity and steep redox gradients. The HZ, therefore, has high rates of nutrient cycling leading to reductions in water pollution and respiration. This in turn leads to production of the three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) primarily through aerobic and anaerobic respiration, denitrification and nitrification. Despite the importance of the HZ there remains a lack of adequate porewater sampling technologies and standard protocols and this project addresses this through the development of sampling technologies and assessment of standard protocols. Additionally, the drivers of nutrient cycling and associated greenhouse gas production in streambed sediments are not well understood and so these are investigated in agricultural streambed sediments with a focus on temperature, sediment type, season and organic matter.
Data for this project were generated at multiple fieldsites including The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research and The Urban River Lab. Some of the work was performed in collaboration with the Leverhulme Trust project Where rivers, groundwater and disciplines meet: a hyporheic research network.
Outputs: Comer-Warner et al., Frontiers in Water 2021; Comer-Warner et al., Biogeochemistry 2020; Comer-Warner et al., STOTEN 2020; Comer-Warner et al., STOTEN 2019; Romeijn et al., ES&T 2019; Comer-Warner et al., Nat. Comms. 2018; Comer-Warner et al., Anal. Chem. 2017, Blaen et al., WRR 2017. Conference presentations including AGU and EGU.
2014-2019 PhD Thesis
PIs: Prof. Stefan Krause, Prof. Daren Gooddy
Affiliations: University of Birmingham, British Geological Survey
Funders: UK Natural Environment Research Council, British Geological Survey
The hyporheic zone (HZ) of streambeds, where surface water and groundwater mix, is an area of increased biogeochemical reactivity. This results from a unique mix of substrate concentrations, surfaces, microbial activity and steep redox gradients. The HZ, therefore, has high rates of nutrient cycling leading to reductions in water pollution and respiration. This in turn leads to production of the three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) primarily through aerobic and anaerobic respiration, denitrification and nitrification. Despite the importance of the HZ there remains a lack of adequate porewater sampling technologies and standard protocols and this project addresses this through the development of sampling technologies and assessment of standard protocols. Additionally, the drivers of nutrient cycling and associated greenhouse gas production in streambed sediments are not well understood and so these are investigated in agricultural streambed sediments with a focus on temperature, sediment type, season and organic matter.
Data for this project were generated at multiple fieldsites including The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research and The Urban River Lab. Some of the work was performed in collaboration with the Leverhulme Trust project Where rivers, groundwater and disciplines meet: a hyporheic research network.
Outputs: Comer-Warner et al., Frontiers in Water 2021; Comer-Warner et al., Biogeochemistry 2020; Comer-Warner et al., STOTEN 2020; Comer-Warner et al., STOTEN 2019; Romeijn et al., ES&T 2019; Comer-Warner et al., Nat. Comms. 2018; Comer-Warner et al., Anal. Chem. 2017, Blaen et al., WRR 2017. Conference presentations including AGU and EGU.