Deciphering the geological record to reveal the history of life, and addressing key issues facing our modern lives
We explore the origin, evolution, distribution and extinction of living organisms throughout geological time, hunting for records of life in terrestrial – and extra-terrestrial – environments. We:
- study how the ancient ocean circulated;
- probe whether there has ever been life on Mars;
- characterise organic matter in meteorites;
- reconstruct three-dimensional models of fossils;
- model global environmental change; and
- map out major observed patterns in species evolution and biodiversity.
Our modelling of fluid and air flows and work on sustainability helps us to tackle issues facing our lives today – from how pollution disperses through urban environments to impact human health to developing greener forms of energy that will help safeguard our future on Earth and support a Transition to Zero Pollution.
If you are interested in one of the projects listed below, we encourage you to contact the primary project supervisor or the alternative contact person for further information.
Current projects
3D imaging of brain blood flow using ultrasound [Info Sheet - Cueto 3D Ultrasound Imaging Brain.pdf]
Supervisors: Dr Carlos Cueto, Dr Lluis Guasch, Dr Sophie Morse
Neural Physics for Inverse Modelling of Surface Electromyography [Info Sheet - Heaney Bio]
Supervisors: Dr Claire Heaney, Professor Christopher Pain
Novel Applications of Trace Metal Stable Isotopes in Medical Research [Info Sheet - Rehkamper isotopes medical]
Supervisors: Professor Mark Rehkämper, Rebkah Moore
A New Paradigm in Probabilistic Landscape Evolution Modelling (ProbLEM) [Info Sheet - Roberts ProbLEM]
Supervisor: Dr Gareth Roberts
Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Data and tools for geochemical baselines and chemical fluxes through landscapes [Info Sheet - Roberts heavymetal]
Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Alex Lipp (UCL)
Mapping pollutants and biodiversity throughout drainage basins [Info Sheet - Roberts Mapping pollutants]
Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Leon Barron (SPH), Guy Woodward (Life Sciences)
Biodiversity and the Evolving Earth: New Data, New Methods, New Insights [Info Sheet - Roberts biodiversity]
Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Mark Sutton
In Situ Metal Concentration Measurements in Biological Research [Info Sheet - Rehkamper imaging medical]
Supervisors: Dr Rebekah Moore, Professor Mark Rehkämper
Magnetically fingerprinting urban particulate matter [Info Sheet - Muxworthy Magnetic ]
Supervisors: Prof. Adrian Muxworthy, Dr David Green (Public Health) and Prof. Wyn Williams (University of Edinburgh)
Biomagnetic monitoring as an urban air quality assessment method [Info Sheet - Muxworthy Weiss Green ]
Supervisors: Prof. Adrian Muxworthy, Prof. Dominik Weiss and Dr David Green (Public Health)
Forensic Detection of Microplastics [Info sheet - Forensic Detection of Microplastics]
Supervisors: Professor Mark A. Sephton, Dr Simon Davis, David Bell (Protium)
Atmospheric Pollution by Tyres [Info sheet - PAH Tyre Pollution]
Supervisors: Professor Mark A. Sephton, Prof Alexandra Porter