Meet the Academic Team

Dr Adrian Dye

Adrian is an Environmentalist and lecturer in Geography that teaches across the Geoscience courses at Teesside University. His research interests are the Anthropocene in the Arctic, use of satellite thermal imagery and GIS to detect climate change, as well as water quality and Ecology. Adrian’s recent research mainly focuses on how lakes evolve in front of glacier termini as they retreat and respond to climatic events (Arctic heatwaves). He has just returned from a field season in the Arctic where he has seen big changes since 2017. 

Twitter: MrADye1

Alison Reid

Alison Reid is a doctoral researcher working on ocean narrative at Newcastle University, based in English and Creative Writing. She works on creative engagement and research across Teesside University, based at MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. She has a particular interest in science communication and environmental storytelling.

Twitter: alireidoceans

Dr Ambroise Baker

My work focuses on how plants, biodiversity and complex ecosystems respond to environmental change. Answering this question is critical to developing: 1) guidance to accelerate ecological recovery and 2) evidence-based policies to protect the environment and human well-being in the context of global change. New evidences in my research chiefly come directly from studying plants, the natural environment and large-scale, long-term ecological systems.

Twitter: ambroise_baker

Caroline’s is an Associate Professor with a research background which includes studying microbial communities within agricultural, industrial and archaeological environments.

Twitter: CarolineOrrTees

Dr Cat Pschenyckyj

Cat’s main research area is focused on peatland biogeochemistry, including understanding how to best manage peatlands for carbon cycling and water quality benefits. Cat has spent many a time pulling footwear out of sphagnum bog pools. 

Twitter: CPschenyckyj

Dr Chris Ennis

Chris has research interests in sustainable technology, especially related to carbon mitigation, utilisation of biochar and environmental protection.

Dr David Wright

My discipline-based research interests are in microbiology, specifically, relating to how an ecological perspective can be used to inform both medically and environmentally focused research projects

Twitter: VineAndCherry

Desiré has worked for the past thirteen years as a molecular ecologist, her research focus is the development and application of genetic tools to wildlife conservation management and forensics.

Gillian’s is an Associate Professor and her main research areas focus is the development of analytical techniques towards forensic and archaeological applications. Specialising in small molecule analysis utilizing GC-MS, UPLC, Q-TOF instrumentation.

Twitter: GT_Tees

I have vast experience as Scientific Officer at Forensic DNA Laboratory. My experience covers various aspects of laboratory examination and analysis relating to Forensic Biology and DNA profiling on biological samples such as bloodstains, seminal stains, hair and bones which encountered in the investigation of murder, suspicious deaths, assault, rape and other sexual offences. However, now I’m excited to expand my research areas in Plant Forensic (will be working on orchid species) and Diatoms in Forensic Investigation.

Dr Jamie Bojko

Members of the Bojko Lab explore general animal and plant pathology and systematics, aiming to discover the underlying dynamics of biological invasions associated with co-invasive symbionts. This subject demands a combination of taxonomic, pathological, ultrastructural, diagnostic, bioinformatic and next generation sequencing tools. These combined data reveal novel host-pathogen-ecological associations that are experimentally tested in the lab and environment to unveil dynamic differences in the way that disease ecology and biological invasions function.

 Twitter: Jamiebojko

Dr Jens Holtvoeth

I am Senior Lecturer in Geology at Teesside University.

Lisa is a stalagmite-based palaeoclimatologist and environmental geochemist. She is particularly interested in using geochemical tracers to constrain human-environmental and human-climate interactions through time with an eye to enhancing resilience to future change.

Twitter: LisaMBaldini1

Peter Beveridge

Peter is a physicist who spent four years working for ICI on Teesside, first in polymer research and then in manufacturing quality control. Currently the Course Leader for the Environmental Cluster, he is also delivering courses related to energy generation.

Dr Rhys Williams

Rhys is a senior lecturer with a background in forensic anthropology, but has since discovered his love of 3D imaging, archaeological visualisation and public engagement. For his PhD, he developed pXRF methods for visualising the preservation at Vindolanda. When not at work, he is usually hunting down the perfect cake. He pretends he’s cool but he’s a total dork.

Twitter: williamsrhy

Dr Amy Miller

Amy is a senior lecturer in Biological Sciences. Her research interests are in the welfare of managed animals including commercial farm and laboratory settings.

Tim’s research focuses on the human body and how it changes, particularly in the modern context. Tim is an expert on the effects of burning on the skeleton, the recording and visualisation of forensic evidence and heritage artefacts, and the resolution of commingled graves from contexts of mass violence.

Twitter: tjuthompson

Dr Kerry Pettigrew

Kerry is a Lecturer in Biomedical sciences, with a background in the genetic analysis of complex disease traits in humans, and experience in bacterial DNA sequencing for infection control. Recent interests include the analysis of open-access global data made available by international organisations such as the UN, WHO and IEA, to assess national performance in aspects relating to health and climate.

Dr Rebecca Scott

Becki is a lecturer in Forensic science. Provenancing of materials using pXRF, especially Glass

Dr Ernesto Saiz Val

Dr Ernesto Saiz research interests are mainly about the biogeochemistry of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C). He focusses on biogeochemical processes in a variety of environments such as the hiporheic zone of rivers, peatlands, forests and agricultural fields among others. He has developed low-cost tools based on optodes (polymer membrane-based optical sensors) that can be used linked with simple computing devices (Raspberry Pi) for in-field monitoring of nutrients. He is working on developing electrochemical sensors that can be linked with microfluidic and wireless communication devices for long-term deployment in soils. He joined Teesside University in July 2023 as Lecturer in Environmental Science.

Dr Pablo Cubillas Gonzalez

Dr Pablo Cubillas is a geochemist interested in studying the processes that take place at the crystal-solution interface. Within this subject, Dr Cubillas is particularly interested in the study of:

• Interactions between ions and mineral surfaces.
• Dissolution of minerals and how this is influenced by the presence of different ions and organic species.
• Precipitation of secondary minerals in coupled dissolution/precipitation systems.
• Crystal growth mechanisms of solid-solutions. Specially the mechanisms that govern the preferential incorporation of ions into the growing phase.
• Crystal growth of microporous materials: zeolites, zeotypes and MOFs.
• Sorption of organic molecules on mineral surfaces.
• Use of minerals as a remediation tool for contaminated waters

Dr Oluseye Oludoye currently serves as a Lecturer in Environmental Science at Teesside University, UK, where he is dedicated to the trifecta of education, research, and administrative roles. His primary research interests revolve around pro-environmental behaviour, with a keen focus on effective waste management and promoting agricultural sustainability. Before joining Teesside University, he had the privilege of being a postdoctoral research fellow at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. There, he delved deep into researching pro-environmental behaviour of single-use plastic waste management.
With over a decade of experience, he had the opportunity to work across various sectors as an agri-environmental researcher, educator, and consultant. He had successfully executed funded research projects and shared his insights at international conferences, workshops, and seminars.

Danai is a lecturer and a researcher in human geography, with special interests in Polar Geography, Cartography and Creative Methods. Danai graduated with a Geography B.Sc. from the University of the Aegean and later has been a full scholarship grantee for the Cartography MSc (T.U. Munich, T.U Vienna, T.U. Dresden, and University of Twente). For her master’s thesis, she developed innovative three-dimensional visuals in cylindrical form for the time and space illustration of the anomalies of ice and vegetation in the Arctic. Her thesis has been published in the Journal “Regional Studies Regional Science”. She continued her academic journey with a PhD in Durham University, fully funded under the Durham Arctic Research Centre for Training and Interdisciplinary Collaboration. For her PhD “Arctic Cartographic Uncertainties”, Danai experimented with creative methods and art-science practices. Her current research interests include spatiotemporal analysis of environmental phenomena, story-map-telling, art-based research, along with her great enthusiasm on polar geography, remote sensing, and data visualisation.

Sina is a palaeoclimatologist with a special interest in micropalaeontology, using microfossils, such as dinoflagellates and pollen, to reconstruct past oceanographic, terrestrial and climatic changes. More recently, I have expanded my research into vegetation reconstructions using pollen in speleothems (e.g. stalagmites). I am particularly interested in time periods in Earth history that were warmer than present in order to gain insights into environmental changes under continued future warming.