PhD Riparian Reactivity: Tracing Carbon Pathways Under Environmental Pressure

This project is part of the NERC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training, ECOWILD.

For more details, and for a full list of projects offered under this programme, please visit: https://ecowild.site.hw.ac.uk/

Project Description

How do riparian zones transform from carbon sinks to sources under climate extremes? This PhD tackles urgent, unresolved questions about how organic matter reactivity is shaped by hydrological and geological variability, nutrient enrichment, and metal interactions. You’ll explore the tipping points where carbon fate shifts, using real-world catchments and cutting-edge molecular tools. Supported by a supervisory team with expertise in carbon biogeochemistry, hydrogeology, metal-organic interactions, and policy translation, this project offers a rare opportunity to investigate the mechanisms driving ecosystem vulnerability to generate insights that could shape future land and water management.

What expertise and skills will the student develop?

The student may gain hands-on experience in advanced molecular techniques for organic matter characterisation, hydrological and groundwater modelling, metal-organic interactions, wet chemistry experiments and highly novel methods such as synchrotron-based radiation techniques. Fieldwork across riparian zones will also build skills in ecosystem monitoring and natural flood management assessment. Training will span analytical chemistry, data interpretation, and science-to-policy translation. With access to leading labs, real-world datasets, and interdisciplinary mentorship, the student could emerge with a robust skillset to tackle pressing questions in carbon cycling, ecosystem resilience, and environmental restoration.

Why is the project novel?

This project is novel in its mechanistic focus on how riparian-derived organic matter (OM) reactivity is affected by multiple stressors such as hydrological and geological variability, nutrient enrichment, and interactions with iron and manganese. While riparian zones are known carbon regulators, the role of metal–OM linkages in tipping carbon sinks into sources under climate stress remains poorly understood. By integrating spatially structured transects with molecular characterisation and incubation experiments, the project moves beyond descriptive studies to uncover the processes driving carbon fate. This approach offers new insight into how natural flood management interventions intersect with biogeochemical feedbacks in vulnerable freshwater ecosystems. What real-life challenge does it address? Managing carbon is central to tackling climate change, yet we still lack the tools to understand how carbon behaves under environmental stress. This project addresses the urgent challenge of predicting how riparian zones act as key interfaces between land and water and respond to climate extremes and land use pressures. By uncovering how organic matter reactivity shifts under multiple stressors, this research aims to integrate carbon and water mitigation into natural flood management strategies and restoration efforts. These findings could help policymakers and practitioners ensure that interventions truly enhance ecosystem resilience and contribute to long-term climate mitigation.