PhD: Sensitivity of aquatic insect eggs to elevated fine sediment and phosphate concentrations in rivers
University of Nottingham
I graduated from the University of Nottingham with a first-class degree in Environmental Science and a keen interest in aquatic invertebrates. My main focus is the effects from anthropogenic activities that bridge terrestrial and aquatic settings and impact invertebrate habitats and ecosystems.
My undergraduate work has included a study of different canal management strategies and consequential impacts on the local ecology and also a comprehensive study of the effect of terrestrial land-use on Collembola families. Latterly I have worked as a research assistant on a project looking at antimicrobial resistance in freshwater organisms in a UK river and the potential for transfer of resistant genes up the aquatic food chain.
Research Project:
The overall global decline of insect populations has been well documented and publicised recently but much research up to now has been on the larval stage of aquatic organisms. Freshwater pollution and in particular, fine sediment and phosphate may have a far greater effect on the egg stage of development of aquatic insects due to their immobility and vulnerability. My PhD research will investigate this and also aims to look at any connection between phosphate levels and antimicrobial resistance in aquatic organisms in UK rivers.