The project: Changes in the availability of nitrogen and carbon within rivers, for example\u00a0associated with anthropogenic inputs from sources such as fertilisers or wastewater, have\u00a0profound effects on these ecosystems across the globe. Accurate identification of the\u00a0sources and impacts of nitrogen and carbon reaching riverine ecosystems provides the\u00a0basis for developing future policy and practice to improve the status of these important\u00a0ecosystems. The epilithic community, including algae and bacteria, attached to the bed of\u00a0streams and rivers is a potentially sensitive indicator of conditions within these\u00a0ecosystems. This PhD will determine how analysis of the stable nitrogen and carbon\u00a0isotope composition of the epilithic community can provide new insights into the sources\u00a0and the impacts of nutrients within rivers and streams. In particular, this project will test\u00a0the hypothesis that stable isotope analysis of the epilithon enables the relative importance\u00a0of groundwater and surface water sources of nutrients to be identified within streams and\u00a0rivers. The training opportunity: This project will provide you with the opportunity to
\nbecome an expert in the stable isotope geochemistry of streams and rivers. You will be\u00a0trained in the design and installation of field sampling equipment in order to characterise\u00a0groundwater and surface water ecosystems. You will gain experience of sampling\u00a0techniques for water quality and stable isotope analyses in both water and epilithic\u00a0samples. The PhD will also provide you with training in a suite of cutting-edge laboratory\u00a0techniques related to stable isotope geochemistry, including hands-on experience of\u00a0operating isotope ratio mass spectrometers. Your supervisors include academics from\u00a0two highly-ranked, research intensive universities in Lancaster and Birmingham. In\u00a0addition, the British Geological Survey will be your CASE partner, providing additional\u00a0funding to the project and the opportunity to work within the largest hydrogeological\u00a0research organization in the country.<\/p>\n
Applicants should hold a Masters degree and\/or a Bachelors degree (at 2.i level or\u00a0equivalent) in subjects such as Environmental Science, Natural Science, Chemistry or\u00a0Physical Geography. Applicants will ideally have some experience of analytical work in a\u00a0laboratory and should have an interest in undertaking both field and laboratory based\u00a0research.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re interested in this project, you\u2019re encouraged to contact Dr Ben Surridge\u00a0(b.surridge@lancaster.ac.uk<\/a>; 01524 594516) to discuss the research and training\u00a0opportunities involved. For an example of the type of research that will be undertaken in\u00a0this project, see: Pastor et al. (2013) Nitrogen stable isotopes in primary uptake\u00a0compartments across streams differing in nutrient availability. Environmental Science and\u00a0Technology. 47; 10155-10162.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The project: Changes in the availability of nitrogen and carbon within rivers, for example\u00a0associated with anthropogenic inputs from sources such as fertilisers or wastewater, have\u00a0profound effects on these ecosystems across the globe. Accurate identification of the\u00a0sources and impacts of nitrogen and carbon reaching riverine ecosystems provides the\u00a0basis for developing future policy and practice to improve… Read More »What lies beneath: biofilm fingerprints for nutrient inputs to rivers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":6141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[51],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-5882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-51","tag-lancaster"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/files\/2017\/10\/Ben-Surridge-Image-2-400x400px.jpg?fit=400%2C400","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kFzn-1wS","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5882"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6124,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5882\/revisions\/6124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}