SEGHLive: Fellowship Seminars

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Tall tales from a “lopsided” Geochemist: navigating interdisciplinary research in environmental geochemistry and health.

Professor Andrew S Hursthouse, BSc, PhD, CChem FRSC

School of Computing Engineering & Physical Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE UK.

Andrew.hursthouse@uws.ac.uk 

https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/andrew-hursthouse 

Environmental geochemistry (and health) offers a challenging research arena where fundamental earth processes and human ecosystems intersect. Understanding the critical impacts, providing potential solutions and working to address “wicked problems” in society is beyond one subject discipline. To address these challenges, we default towards collaborative research within interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams. Diverse research fields, cultural and organisational structures need to work to address local and international cases. This is an increasing trend and forms the core of major national research initiatives. The SEGH community has always existed in this space and provides a critical forum has long provided an opportunity to discuss, debate and develop innovative research ideas. It supports both ECR and those with an established research career. But starting this journey can be bewildering, and sometimes a narrow focus means opportunities can be missed. Reflecting on the hidden dangers and wonderful opportunities from a series of diverse projects, the presentation will consider how to approach and find opportunities in a complex landscape. A series of “tall tales” seen through borrowed glasses!

Andrew Hursthouse is an environmental geochemist with over 30 years of experience applying an “earth-systems” approach to research which covers the transport/behaviour of pollutants in the environment (air quality, land degradation and remediation, and aquatic biogeochemistry), evaluating their impact on ecosystems and for human health.

These have links to policy and knowledge transfer activities which have been focused on the role and evolution of environmental management tools, issues of regulation and sustainability, and in the development of innovative R&D support mechanisms for SMEs and large industrial operations in a number of sectors.

I undertook PhD and postdoc research on actinide geochemistry associated with nuclear waste processing facilities, developing analytical tools and applying them to study environmental transport processes. Subsequently my research has applied these principles in studies of waste impacts and management systems, resource recovery and exposure assessment. This is fundamentally focused on understanding the behaviour of potentially harmful elements and compounds in urban and rural environments in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. Current projects include: 

• anti-microbial resistance in the environment - collaborative contribution providing environmental (chemical) quality and feedback on environmental microbiology.

• impact of resource exploitation on the environment - management and mitigation of effects of resource recovery (metal mining, e-wastes and shale gas exploitation) in particular for direct human exposure and compromised food chain (UK, EU and Asia).

• sustainable urban ecosystems - impact of urbanisation on urban environment - degraded environmental quality from contaminated land, air and water, human exposure and risk assessment.