Environmental Processes and Impacts Research Group

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 Change research looks at the Earth's changing environment and the influence of human activity on climate and ecosystems. We aim to understand natural climate variations and their interaction with human activities, considering the impact of population growth on the Earth's environment. Our research also provides innovative solutions to environmental crises and aims to mitigate the risks of climate change.

To mitigate the future risk from climate change, we're making local assessments in diverse ecosystems and hydrosystems worldwide, addressing issues such as melting glaciers, floods, heat waves, forest fires, and natural disasters. We also contribute to the design of sustainable urban environments for both humans and biodiversity while exploring the science of decay and its economic, political, and cultural contexts.

Through our Environmental Processes and Impacts research, we also study the movement and effects of contaminants and pollutants in the environment – collaborating with industry partners, including water companies, environmental consultants, and nuclear regulators, to identify challenges and develop solutions.

We also work with organisations and regulators worldwide in sustainable resource management to meet the growing demands for food and energy, and enhance monitoring techniques for hazardous environmental pollutants.

Our research 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.

Methods and facilities

The University of Portsmouth is home to exceptional facilities that shape the work we do – including our earth surface materials laboratory, sediment and tephra laboratory, infrared Fourier transform spectrometer, laser granulometer, and ground penetrating radar. 

We use laboratory and field-based methods in our research, including quantitative observations, satellite data, remote sensing, modelling, experimental analysis in the laboratory and field, and simulation of complex environmental conditions.

We regularly collaborate with major industry and academic partners on our research, including the National Trust, Forest Research and Historic England.

Explore more of our research