PhD: Bloomin’ Blanket Weed: managing nuisance algae at National Trust water bodies
School of Geography
University of Nottingham
Email: hannah.kemp@nottingham.ac.uk
I recently graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in BSc Geography. My specific area of interest has developed around freshwater bodies, exploring the physical characteristics of lakes and rivers, how they change overtime and the advantages and disadvantages of implementing different restoration and management techniques.
Research:
Across the UK many shallow lakes are experiencing blooms of filamentous green macroalgae that form thick blankets across lake surfaces. Most often, these alga can grow happily in freshwater bodies without causing a nuisance, however when their biomass rapidly increases to cause a bloom they can not only alter the ecological balance in these ecosystems but also reduce the amenity value of freshwaters, disrupting important conservation work and water-based activities.
This PhD aims to understand the main drivers causing increased macroalgae blooms by employing different approaches including systematic literature reviews, limnological monitoring and laboratory experiments. I will also investigate the extent to which these algal blooms are a problem in the UK and start to develop sustainable and effective management techniques in partnership with the National Trust.
See the below infographic for more information about Hannah’s exciting research. This was created by Hannah during an Infographics training course delivered by Infohackit and organised by Envision.
