Why this Theme?
This theme cross-cuts with many other ARIES themes, and interest lies not only in resource availability and management, but in industry drivers such as the global problem of microplastics both in marine and terrestrial environments, yield and sustainable increases in land use, and drought/flooding.
There are exciting possibilities to geo-engineer and bio-engineer soils to increase yields and carbon storage, regulate greenhouse gas emissions and water flows, and mitigate pollution. However, these manipulations generate trade-offs where improved provision of one service might be to the detriment of others. ARIES will nurture research and training concerned with the holistic understanding of soil and the ecosystem services it supports. The food-energy-water nexus that is underpinned by soil requires the next generation of environmental scientists to undertake discovery science to influence environmental regulation and policy, and to engage with agri-water industries to deliver societal impact.
The global problem of microplastics was brought to prominence by ARIES partner UoP. Important gaps that ARIES research aims to fill include: improved detection, better understanding of processes that alter the transport and fate of microplastics, microplastics as vectors of persistent organic pollutants, challenges associated with removal of microplastics from waste streams, and non-plastic alternative micro-materials.
Why ARIES?
Collectively, ARIES partners have the joined-up expertise to identify small steps required to address the big questions. We may engineer better soils across the sediment-soil-microbe-plant-ecosystem continuum alongside expertise of socio-economic drivers and feedbacks to balance issues of equity, local values and feasibility. Specific expertise can be found in crop science (JIC), biogeochemical cycling, carbon storage and pollution mitigation (UEA, UoE, UoP, RHUL, CEH, BGS), social sciences (UEA) and water flow / erosion (UoP, RHUL, UEA, AW, BGS).
ARIES has excellence in waste-water treatment, riverine transport modelling, shelf-sea processes, ocean circulation and modelling, and the application of autonomous platforms. Once in the sea, biofilms and resulting production of extracellular polymeric substances alter the characteristics of microplastic surfaces affecting their uptake and transfer through marine food webs. ARIES has renowned expertise in environmental chemistry, microplastic diagnostics and impact assessment, and microbiology. Equally, ARIES is well equipped to address these issues with coastal and ocean-going research vessels, marine stations with easy access to southern and eastern research sites, and associated wet laboratories and aquaria, together with the state-of-the-art Coastal Ocean and Sediment Transport (COaST) wave tank (UoP, PML, MBA, UEA, UoE). Minimising microplastics from waste streams is a major challenge to the water industry, and so Anglian Water’s expertise and facilities will be complemented by those of other partners to investigate integrated optical and electrostatic removal technologies.
PGR training and employability
PGRs will receive training in the advanced skills required for their project from multidisciplinary supervisory and support teams. Skills will include combinations of chemistry, microbiology and community ecology. The projects are end-user focussed (e.g. informing the legal framework for discharge consent limits and development/scale-up of methods for microplastic removal), and PGRs will benefit from ARIES end-user partners in their projects. Core numeracy skills will be enhanced by the diverse ARIES offerings, so that PGRs can analyse large, long-term data sets and model microplastic fate and transport, resulting in rounded graduates with a wealth of skills in demand by diverse sectors.
Wider engagement
ARIES has a wealth of collaborating partners who add great value to this topic, e.g. The Sainsbury Laboratory, with world-renowned expertise in plant-microbe interactions, form a pivotal link between soil science and food security. ARIES partners have valuable collaborations with current CASE partners, such AB Vista (developing products for animal feed and nutrition) and ADC BioScientific Ltd. (developing soil / plant monitoring equipment). The involvement of the Defra Group ensures that ARIES research is informed by policy. Community support for interventions and long-term socio-economic gains is essential, and so projects in this priority topic will benefit from input from the social sciences (e.g. via the ESRC DTPs SeNNS and SWDTP).
As outlined above, the involvement of ARIES end-user partners will be important for success in this Priority Topic, including water and engineering companies (notably Anglian Water), the EA, and Cefas, MMO and PMLA in the context of coastal processes.