16 June 2011

News and Events

The latest news on GPRG events and members.

New collaborative research on electrokinetic-enhanced bioremediation

New collaborative research on electrokinetic-enhanced engineered bioremediation of contaminated soil and groundwater

GPRG have been awarded an EPSRC Case studentship, in collaboration with Shell Global Solutions UK, to explore the development of electrokinesis technology for the enhanced engineered bioremediation of contaminated soil and groundwater. The project, which starts in October 2011, includes researchers from the University of Cardiff and will examine the fundamental processes and potential for use of electrokinesis as a sustainable concept for in situ remediation of organic contaminants in soil and groundwater, using bench-scale model systems. Key areas of interest include the effect of system design, physical setting and environmental conditions on treatment performance. The project will consider microbiological and geochemical processes involved in the treatment and aims to provide engineering design guidelines for the application of this novel remediation concept.

    New collaborative research on ETBE natural attenuation in groundwater

    GPRG have been awarded a NERC Case studentship, in collaboration with CONCAWE, to investigate the natural attenuation of ethyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (ETBE) in groundwater. The project, which starts in October 2011, will research the environmental and microbiological controls on the biodegradation of this fuel additive in groundwater. The aim of the project is to provide scientific information to support decisions on risk-management of ETBE-contaminated groundwater using natural attenuation.

      New EU-funded project on in situ groundwater remediation

      Steve Thornton has been awarded an EU grant to establish a Marie-Curie Initial Training Network on the theme of sustainable in situ groundwater remediation. Named ADVOCATE, the project includes research partners in the UK, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Switzerland, and is supported by a wide range of industry partners across these countries. The project will start in April 2011 and run for four years, with the aim of providing advanced training in this field to young international researchers.

        GPRG offer training in landfill engineering to Australian consultants

        Steve Thornton and David Hall (Golder Associates) will jointly deliver a 3-day advanced training course on landfill engineering and management to the Australian Contaminated Land Consultants Association (ACLCA) in Melbourne in March 2011. The course covers scientific, technical and engineering aspects of landfill waste management, including demonstrations of LandSim, the industry-standard modelling sofware for landfill design and risk assessment. Further details can be found on the following web link : http://www.aclca.org.au/

        New UK-China Catchment Science Centre

        Uk China catchment science centre

        In November 2010, the Catchment Science Centre at the University of Sheffield and College of Water Sciences at Beijing Normal University created a joint international research centre in catchment management. This strategic alliance will foster new collaborative research between the two groups on a range of issues related to the sustainable management of river catchments in the UK and China, and draw upon the extensive experience of the two groups in this field. David Lerner is pictured above signing the formal agreement for the joint centre on behalf of the University of Sheffield.

          GPRG staff appointed as Visiting Professors to Beijing Normal University

          GPRG staff appointed as visiting professors

          In July 2010, Steve Thornton and Wei Huang were appointed as Visiting Professors to the College of Water Sciences (CWS) at Beijing Normal University (BNU). These appointments establish long term links between the GPRG and CWS, in which there is already an active programme of collaborative research in biodegradation of organic pollutants in soil and groundwater and joint training initiatives, such as the recent international summer school. Steve Thornton and Wei Huang are pictured above receiving their presentation at BNU.

            International Summer School on Bioremediation

            In July-August 2010, the GPRG and College of Water Sciences at Beijing Normal University will jointly deliver an international summer school on the theme of Frontier Approaches for Implementing Bioremediation. The summer school, which is led by Steven Thornton, Wei Huang and Ryan Wilson from the GPRG, will be supported by industrial speakers and focus on recent advances in the theory and application of bioremediation for management of contaminated land and groundwater. Further information can be found on the website.

            GPRG to host YCLF meeting

            GPRG are to once again host a meeting of the Yorkshire Contaminated Land Forum on the 6th February 2009. Further meeting details can be found in the flyer, available by following the link below.

            GPRG tenth birthday

            The Groundwater Protection and Restoration Group celebrates its tenth birthday in 2008. To mark the occasion a symposium will be held on June 18th to acknowledge both the individuals who have been involved and the research that has gone on within the Group. Click below for further details.

                Prof. Lerner to Open Risk Assessment Conference

                Professor David Lerner of the GPRG is to open the 6th 'Contaminated Land Risk Assessment Conference' on the 29th April. Prof. Lerner will talk on 'Confidence in forcasting natural attenuation in groundwater', relaying the findings of the CORONA project and discussing the application of the knowledge gained. Further details of the conference can be found via the link below.

                New book published from SUBR:IM group

                One of the major outputs of the SUBR:IM research consortium. is a book which was published on 26th Sept. Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: liveable places from problem spaces presents a comprehensive account of UK policies, processes and practices in brownfield regeneration and takes an integrated and theoretically-grounded approach to highlight best practice.

                £2.5m University project for River Don floodplain

                The University of Sheffield has been awarded a major grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), to look at the redevelopment of the River Don floodplain in South Yorkshire, to create a place where people can live and work safely, now and in the future. The green light for the project has been welcomed by the Environment Agency as "great news", providing a substantial body of research which will "make a vital contribution to learning from the recent flooding events".

                The project entitled 'Urban River Corridors and Sustainable Living Agendas' (URSULA) will be led by the Catchment Science Centre and is headed by Prof. David Lerner.

                SUBR:IM roadshow

                The SUBR:IM consortium are giving presentations as part of the closing dissemination activities of the SUBR:IM research activities. Events organised bt the Environment Agency are scheduled for Reading (8 June), Birmingham (13 June), and Leeds (20 June). The final event is organised
                by SAGTA near Bath (4 July). More details and copies of presentations are available on the SUBR:IM website.

                Going Underground - Human Health Risks from Pathogens in the Soil-Water Env

                An Inception Meeting was held in Sheffield on 29th May 2007 for a new interdisciplinary working group hosted by the University of Sheffield, led by Profs. Steve Banwart (C-MI Programme, Sheffield) and Louise Heathwaite (CSWM, Lancaster). The 'Going Underground' project brings academics from the universities of Sheffield, Lancaster, Aberystwyth and Liverpool together with experts from the Environment Agency, IGER and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

                The project aims to assess the critical research needs in identifying and predicting human health risks from pathogens in soils, sediments and water resources. This complex, interdisciplinary environmental problem is subject to a broad range of dynamic control factors in the face of changing climate, land use, flood risk, water management and emerging pathogens. The potential effects, in terms of human health risks, are incompletely understood and objective of the Going Underground project is to isolate the key gaps in the knowledge and propose the collaborative research programmes required to address them.

                The project supports a Research Assistant (Jonathan Bridge, Sheffield) to co-ordinate a critical review of the current state of knowledge and faciliate three focused workshops to take place in November, January and May 2007-2008. The workshops will target key experts from across the disciplines of agricultural and soil sciences, catchment science, microbial epidemiology, medical statistics and public health. Going Underground is a collaborative working group funded under the Joint Research Councils Environment and Human Health Programme. Further information and contact details can be found on the project website:

                Forthcoming Seminar

                Our next seminar will be held on 21 June (Thursday instead of our usual Friday). We would like to invite you to a presentation by Professor Stuart Lane, Professor of Physical Geography and Director of Research at the Department of Geography, University of Durham. He will be talking about "Water - too much or too little? A combined field and numerical experiment to assess the impacts of reservoir releases upon instream habitat" in LT5 in the Mappin Building at 1.30 pm.

                  David Lerner visits the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences

                  As part of a workshop on Risk Assessment and Management of Contaminated Land at the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, David Lerner delivered 5 lectures on a range of topics. The event in April 2007 was part of a developing relationship between SUBR:IM, GPRG and SAES which is expected to lead to the formation of the Shanghai-Sheffield Geoenvironmental Centre.

                  See also:

                  GPRG Presentations at Environmental Mineralogy Meeting

                  A number of members of the GPRG are due to present to the Environmental Mineralogy RIP meeting in Manchester on Tuesday 24th April.

                  Details are avaliable from the following link;

                  New Publication

                  Ernesto Hernandez, Robert Bachman and R.G. Edyvean have recently published in
                  Anaerobe a study dealing with the measurement of biomass concentration using a
                  low-cost and time-saving chemical based method.

                  In biological systems like sludge, the determination of the biomass
                  concentration is essential and is usually carried out by a time-consuming and
                  expensive method based on the measurement of volatile suspended solids.

                  The alternative presented by the authors targets the covalent bones in organic
                  molecules and their method is validated by applying a stoichiometric oxidation
                  equation. This paper is important as money and time are two essential factors
                  in modern day research that can never be overlooked helping those working in
                  the field of waste treatment, land remediation and bioenergy production from
                  biomass fermentation.

                  New Metagenomic Research

                  Ernesto Hernandez and Robert Edyvean started metagenomic research at the Kroto
                  Research Institute. Metagenomics is a new field studying simultaneously an
                  entire community of microbes by sequencing their DNA. They discovered more than
                  15 wild extremophile bacteria degrading aromatic compounds anaerobically. These
                  microbes are close relatives of bacteria recently found in extremely acid cave
                  biofilm, volcanic deposits, limited thermodynamic conditions and cultures
                  degrading phenol, MTBE, trichlorobenzene and terephtalate.

                  Their findings can answer why previous thermodynamically non favoured
                  degradation experiments were positive without the presence of methanogens.
                  Their research is valuable in all those areas where a community of unculturable
                  microorganisms are involved, e.g. agriculture, human health, environment and
                  bioenergy generation, etc.

                  This year, a new report of the USA National Research Council says that
                  metagenomics could revolutionize the understanding of the microbial world. In
                  this report a new Global Metagenomics Initiative is encouraged to generate
                  advances similarly like the Human Genome Project.



                    See also