Partnership update: East Durham College

Published on by Gillian

An increasing global population and an increasing demand for animal protein has increased the pressure on commercial farming systems. Efficiency is therefore critical, ensuring appropriate growth, balanced with maintaining high standards of welfare. Animal feed represents a significant outgoing for farmers and many commercially purchased feeds also come at significant environmental cost. Growing crops at distance to the farm increases the carbon footprint and the use of imported soya is problematic. Adapting ways of working is crucial, ensuring a balance between optimum growth rates of livestock, ensuring the health and welfare of the animals is maintained, whilst sourcing feed sustainably and locally, potentially complementing farming practices such as crop rotation. For farmers to have confidence in changing feeding regimes, evidence is required demonstrating that pigs will consume locally grown food and reach weight targets in a timely manner. Furthermore, such a change in diet for the animals should be confirmed to result in no negative impact on consumer experience. 

Together with our industrial partner at East Durham College, we are undertaking a project which aims to showcase the potential benefits of producing animal feed on the same site as the animals are reared.

Any questions to Dr Amy Miller

Contact details and further information here: https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/persons/amy-miller

New paper alert: Climate Change – Dr Ernesto Saiz Val

Published on by Gillian

Climate change is affecting the dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions depending on land use, a new study by Guo et al. (2023) has found.

Climate change is now a fact. Experts all over the world agree that we are going to suffer more frequent extreme weather. This is then more frequent heavy rain leading in many cases to severe flooding, and more frequent heat waves leading to severe droughts. Water is a main factor affecting soil biogeochemistry, so these changing soil conditions (prolonged flooding and flooding-drying) were the main driver of the study, including land-use change. The study was conducted by a group of multidisciplinary and multi-institutional scientists leaded by Prof Sami Ullah and Dr Yafei Guo from the University of Birmingham (Biogeochemists), Dr Ernesto Saiz from Teesside University (Biogeochemist), Dr Aleks Radu from Lincoln University (Chemist), and Prof Sameer Sonkusale from Tufts University (Engineer). Also, this study was used for testing new sensor prototypes for continuous monitoring of soil ions (potassium, ammonium, nitrate, and pH). The findings suggest that extreme weather and land-use should be consider for the calculations of the Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2023.e00697

New paper alert: Invasive species – Dr Jamie Bojko

Published on by Gillian

Human travel and transport has resulted in the introduction of several ‘invasive’ species to new global locations. In one instance, trade routes across Europe have moved freshwater crustaceans from the Ponto-Caspian region (Ukraine/western Russia/etc.) to lakes and rivers across Poland, Germany, France and more. The “tank shrimp” Pontogammarus robustoides, is one such invasive species – it has significant impacts on the ecosystems that it invades. In this case, we conducted a parasitological screening study to look for diseases that this amphipod might carry. We found a huge range of new parasites, from viruses and bacteria to large worms and other parasites. Now that we know of these parasites, we can consider their potential risk to new ecosystems if this species makes it way to other sites, potentially including the invasion of the UK, following in the footsteps of the killer and demon shrimp.

Click here for link to read more:

Histopathological screening of Pontogammarus robustoides (Amphipoda), an invader on route to the United Kingdom – ScienceDirect

Pangolin: the most trafficked mammal in the world

Published on by Gillian

One of nature’s most intriguing species is the pangolin. It is the size of a small dog, covered in scales with a tail like a dinosaur, powerful claws, a long snout, no teeth and a very long serpentine tongue. Pangolins eat ants, termites, and larvae that they pick up using their sticky tongues. To protect themselves from predators, they will curl into a tight ball and will use their sharp-scaled tails to defend themselves. Worldwide, there are eight species, four in Africa and four in Asia with some species living on the ground and others occurring in trees. Sadly, they are regarded as the most trafficked wild mammals in the world, as they are considered culturally significant in Africa and Asia due to their unique appearance and habits. In 2017, a ban on international commercial trade of all eight species took effect. However, despite this, nearly 70 countries and territories have been involved in the illegal pangolin trade in the last decade. A recent news article details how an undercover sting outwitted pangolin traffickers (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66375281).

To learn more about these fascinating creatures check out some books that Dr Desiré Dalton (Lecturer, Teesside University) has contributed to (https://shop.elsevier.com/books/pangolins/challender/978-0-12-815507-3 and http://opus.sanbi.org/jspui/handle/20.500.12143/8591) or have a look at her research (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27510566/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28177847/).

Novel soil monitoring

Published on by Gillian

Dr Ernesto Saiz has visited the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BiFOR) free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment located in Staffordshire. He was accompanied by some of the PIs of the project he is involved in: Prof Sami Ullah (University of Birmingham) and Prof Sameer Sonkusale (Tufts University), in addition to some other researchers, and a distinguished visiting fellow from the University of Delaware Prof Delphis F. Levia. The main objective was to show the engineers (from Tufts) in-situ what are the main characteristics of the soil (texture and moisture) where the prototypes developed will be deployed. With this visit the engineers can now make the final modifications needed for the device to work wireless in the field. The state-of-the-art sensor probe will be capable of continuous monitoring of potassium, ammonium, nitrate and pH in the soil.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pompeii – Climate change impacts

Published on by Gillian

Pompeii is often described as a place frozen in time, when in October 79AD, Vesuvius  erupted and plunged the surrounding areas into darkness for three days, ash and pumice rained down on pompeii.

The site is vast and amazing, covering well over 60 hectares, and walking around today really feels as if you could be back in Roman times. The site has been under investigation for approx three hundred years, but is continually coming up with amazing finds, such as the pizza painting, and further information can be found here youtube clip.

This summer, has been one of the hottest on record, (and it was 35oC when I visited) and Pompeii is trialing modern technologies to help monitor and guard against possible damage from climate change.

The visit really helped develop thoughts and comparisons with other sites, and I am looking forward to using these images in my teaching sessions, where we explore monitoring techniques at different archaeological sites.

Dr Gillian Taylor

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Promotion – Associate Professor Lisa Baldini

Published on by Gillian

We are excited to announce a recent promotion in our team, Dr Lisa Baldini is now an Associate Professor.  Lisa specialises in palaeoclimate  and environmental geochemistry research.

Lisa has recently led an expedition to Gabon, funded by National Geographic Explorer Level II Grant to explore West Africa for stalagmite-bearing caves and generate the region’s first-ever stalagmite palaeoclimate reconstruction

Congratulations