Centre for Environmental Research

Centre for Environmental ResearcH

twitter: @CER_UWS

(Part of the Institute of Biomedical & Environmental Health Research)

Our research interests focus on the inextricable link between human health and health of our environment. From geochemical cycling through anthropogenic contamination to the impact of human activities on animal welfare, our combination of biologists, environmental scientists, chemists, engineers and mathematicians allows us to address the relationship between humans and their environment.

One area of our research seeks to understand the impact of contaminants on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including the effects of pharmaceuticals, metals, plastics, pesticides and how some of these factors interact to negatively impact biota. We consider how the health and the welfare of aquatic animals used for human consumption (fish and shrimp) and companionship (pet fish) can be improved to foster a sustainable relationship between humans and their aquatic environment. In the terrestrial arena we consider eco-taxonomic studies of plants and fungi and seek technical solutions to climate change issues, including methods for carbon storage. We also develop risk and vulnerability assessment methods to facilitate local adaptation decision-making.

Our expertise in waste, bioremediation and geochemical cycling feed into risk assessment in response to human and ecosystem health concerns, and with emerging issues such as antimicrobial resistance in the real world. We also address fundamental aspects of earth surface processes.

We have wider links to environmental regulation and policy development at a local (e.g. Froglife), national (e.g. DEFRA, SEPA) and international scale (e.g. EC) and work in partnership with other research groups within IBEHR and UWS to address implications for public and environmental health.

Strong and sustained international collaborative partnerships exist with research groups in Europe and Asia and with a variety of industrial partners (partnerships page). We are involved in a number of interdisciplinary teams addressing global SDG challenges and are members of the Scottish Research Pools: SAGES, MASTS and SULSA (partnerships page).

Research undertaken by members of the group maps onto 11 UN SDGs which include:

managing waste and toxin emission to air, water and land in urban and rural systems and both terrestrial and aquatic environments [SDGs 2; 3; 6; 14; 15];
developing more sustainable innovative industrial processes and resilient economic growth [SDGs 9; 11;12]
supporting effective partnerships to address policy and institutional buy in, sharing best practice globally [SDG 13; 17].

We pursue development of these areas and building critical mass with academic depth based on a strong scientific and theoretical basis.

Research Themes

Multiple stressors

“The combined impacts of threatening processes to adversely affect biodiversity and human health”

Aquatic ecotoxicology: acute and chronic effects
Invasive species: ecosystem impacts
Pollutant fate/geochemistry: transportation/degradation/accumulation
Antimicrobial resistance in the real world

Energy and resource management

“Promoting and supporting sustainability and security in the resource-product-waste cycle”

Wastes management
Clean technologies and resource efficiency
Environmental health
Occupational safety & health

Human-biotic interactions

“Investigating exposure pathways, impact and risk on sensitive ecosystems”

Human-animal interactions
Aquaculture
Welfare
Invasive species
Conservation
Human-plant/soil interactions

Industry and business

“Applying holistic systems approach to innovation, optimisation of resource use and mitigation of environmental footprint”

Environmental sustainability,
Industrial ecology, lifecycle and process systems,
Resource efficiency and process development

Key Project area summaries

Aquaculture

In collaboration with Scottish aquaculture industry, we have developed novel, non-lethal diagnostic tools to assess fish health in aquaculture. Identifying fish blood parameters which are indicative of potential disease outbreaks or health problems can act as an early warning measure. Neoparamoeba causes amoebic gill disease, which affects fish health and coastal economies. We are investigating how Neoparamoeba causes amoebic gill disease to design effective treatment.

In shrimp aquaculture, feeding inefficiency is a big concern and understanding shrimp feeding behaviour can help address this problem. We are working with industry to develop behavioural tools to test the attractiveness of novel diets to shrimp and to understand the behaviour of shrimp in aquaculture ponds.

Conservation

Amphibians are undergoing a precipitous decline globally. Understanding effects of pollutants on amphibians can help conserve populations. In particular, we are investigating how pollutants, including salinisation of freshwater habitats, can affect health and reproduction in wild frogs.

Working with a coral reef restoration programme in Indonesia, we have shown that large-scale reef rehabilitation can successfully restore fish communities and influence the key ecological process of herbivory. Determining whether healthy fish communities return to rehabilitated coral reefs is important for informing rehabilitation programmes.

Welfare

Over 2 billion fish are transported annually for the ornamental trade. Improving welfare during transport has long-term welfare and economic implications. We are working with the ornamental fish trade to improve fish welfare during transport, and with the pet care industry to improve diets for ornamental fish. We are also investigating the interaction between humans and their pets to understand the benefits of animal companionship for humans.

Multiple Stressors

We are investigating how climate change, invasive species and pollutants interact to affect health and reproduction in a variety of aquatic invertebrates. Microplastics are of significant environmental concern, yet their impact on both freshwater and marine organisms remains under-researched. We have published several papers on microplastics in the Scottish environment and their impacts on amphibians, marine fish and crustaceans of commercial importance.

Multiple interacting factors are contributing to the global biodiversity crisis. Studying the effects of multiple stressors in model species provides information on these effects. We work with the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis to understand the interactions between temperature, invasive species and pollutants.

Our work on terrestrial ecosystems looks at ecosystem transfer of potentially harmful substances in the food chain and risk assessment for protection of human health. These have been on mining and waste disposal sites studying dispersal of potentially toxic elements – e.g. lead, antimony, thallium and manganese in mining impacted landscapes and uptake in locally grown food products. Assessment of urban and peri-urban land use on human exposure in allotment gardens.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the real world is a cross disciplinary issue of critical global importance. Our initiative works at the interface between microbiome and external environment, looking at the role of the environment and host microbiome in influencing the evolution, acquisition and spread of antibacterial resistance, and as a reservoir for resistance. Studies focus on the role of historical pollution on AMR prevalence through to impact of industrial wastes and link to policy and the One Health concept.

Industry & Business

Members of CER have and continue to play active roles in industrially focused and sponsored programmes. These include a series of knowledge transfer projects based on novel service development for aquaculture through to waste and environmental treatment systems reducing environmental impact, identifying resource recovery and products from waste. These include highly rated KTP projects with small businesses and large multinational enterprises as well as direct industry sponsorship. The key element for all of these is a contribution to multidisciplinary teams focused on industrial problem solving and systems based understanding. Examples include novel biomedical diagnostics in fish health, copper recovery and reuse from whisky production wastes and hazard prioritization and reduction in electronic and electrical waste recycling.