Environmental process and impacts
Climate change, environmental pollution and contamination, and the increasing scarcity of our planet’s natural resources are some of the biggest threats to humanity.
Our Environmental Processes and Impacts research looks at the monitoring, movement and impacts of contaminants and pollutants in the environment.
We have strong industry links with water companies, environmental consultants and nuclear regulators. Our work identifies the issues they face and searches for solutions to them.
To meet the growing demand for food and energy, we’re helping organisations and governments around the world use the planet’s natural resources more sustainably.
And to mitigate the risks associated with contaminated water, air and land, we’re also working with regulators and industries to develop more efficient monitoring techniques for dangerous environmental pollutants.
Our work explores the following topics
- Environmental impacts
- Hydrogeology and water quality
- Marine biogeochemistry
- Marine environmental science
- Radioactivity and radiation
- Ecotoxicology
- Environmental modelling
- Water, air and soil pollution
- Passive sampling
- Environmental monitoring and assessment
- Emerging contaminants and microplastics
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Environmental chemistry and mineralogy
Much of our research makes use of the University of Portsmouth Geological and Environmental Laboratories (UPGEL) – our flagship commercial laboratories group, formed in response to a Regional Growth Fund effort to create an easily-accessible Environmental Technologies Hub in the Solent region.
UPGEL boasts exceptional laboratories and facilities – including Chemcatcher®, a cost-effective passive sampling device developed by our researchers and colleagues at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, which can replace established water monitoring approaches that rely on infrequent spot or bottle sampling.
We partner and collaborate with many private companies, universities, regulatory bodies and environmental consultancies, including:
- Fukushima University, Japan
- The State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management, Ukraine
- The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)
- The International Network for Environmental Forensics (INEF)
- DustScanAQ: Dust Monitoring & Air Quality Consultants
Our work has been featured in many publications, including Environmental Science and Technology, Science of the Total Environment, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, and Climatic Change. We have received significant project funding from major organisations, such as the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Our work has been covered widely by mainstream media – with our recent work on abundant wildlife populations at Chernobyl being covered around the world by the likes of Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, CNN, New Scientist, The Washington Post, El Pais and Le Figaro.
Publication highlights
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Long-term census data reveal abundant wildlife populations at Chernobyl
Current Biology Volume 25, Issue 19, 2015, R824-R826, T.G. Deryabina, S.V. Kuchmel, L.L. Nagorskaya, T.G. Hinton, J.C. Beasley, A. Lerebours, J.T. Smith
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Science of the Total Environment, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.489, Lucie Pinasseau, Laure Wiest, Aurélie Fildier, Laurence Volatier, Gary R. Fones, Graham A. Mills, Florian Mermillod-Blondin, Emmanuelle Vulliet
Project highlights
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Transfer - Exposure - Effects (TREE)
Integrating the science needed to underpin radioactivity assessments for humans and wildlife
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Innovating the Chernobyl Landscape: Environmental Assessment for Rehabilitation and Management
Discover our areas of expertise
Research groups
Interested in a PhD in Earth & Environmental Sciences?
Browse our postgraduate research degrees – including PhDs and MPhils – at our Earth & Environmental Sciences postgraduate research degrees page.