West Midlands, England, United Kingdom
As a research assistant at BIFoR, I was responsible for baseline collection of soils for analyses. This is a long-term project assessing the impact of climate change on our native forest woodlands. Ultimately, we hope to understand both above and below ground response to elevated CO2. I am also involved with the isotopic analyses of the mature oak trees.
My primary research goals as a Ph.D student were directed towards understanding the impact on soil biogeochemistry of tropical forest conversion to oil palm plantation in Borneo. My Ph.D. concentrated on investigating the nitrogen status and cycling capability within forest and oil palm plantation soils. Specifically, I set up experiments to compare rates of gross mineralisation and nitrification, denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA), anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and N2O emissions across these two land uses. Prior to my Ph.D, I also completed a M.Sc. in river environmental management.