Our experienced team of academic and research staff lead a wide range of research projects and conduct consultancy work both in the UK and internationally. Staff at the centre work both as lone researchers on small projects as well as leading and collaborating on multi-million pound research grants with external academic, industrial, governmental and non-governmental partners. The centre is also home to research students working on aquatic research projects.
The centre has access to state-of-the-art research facilities on the Moulsecoomb site, including specialist microbial and water quality laboratories, an experimental river basin, geochemical equipment, a microscope suite, and a large array of field equipment. All of these facilities are supported by a team of laboratory and workshop technicians. Field and laboratory facilities are used to support activities across our research themes, but are also used by visiting scholars and industry for collaborative projects and consultancy
Public health and water quality
The centre has specialist facilities used for research into the transmission of pathogens and faecal indicator organisms in aquatic, marine and terrestrial environments, including a Category-2 Microbiology Laboratory. This laboratory houses a selection of molecular and non-molecular facilities for the routine isolation and enumeration of microorganisms. Key equipment includes:
- MinION DNA/RNA Sequencer – used for real-time DNA and RNA sequencing
- Qiagen Rotor-Gene Q – used for real-time PCR analysis
- G-Storm Thermal Cycler – used to amplify segments of DNA through PCR
- Qubit 4 Fluorometer – used to measure the concentration of DNA, RNA or protein
- UV cabinets – used to disinfect equipment and hard to clean materials
- Sorvall Legend Micro 21 Microcentrifuge – used to separate particles from samples contained in tubes with a volume of less than 5.0 mL
- Heraeus Megafuge 16R - used to separate particles from larger samples (max capacity 400 mL each)
- UV cross-linkers - used for crosslinking nucleic acids or eliminating PCR contamination
- Tecan Spark microplate reader – used to simultaneously analyse the absorbance, luminescence or fluorescence of multiple samples
- Analytik Jena UVP ColonyDoc-It Imaging Station – used for quick, automated colony counting
- MSC-Advantage Cat II safety cabinet – used to safely process samples containing pathogens
- Autoclaves, -80ºC freezers, incubators, hybridisation ovens, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment, a laminar flow cabinet, membrane filtration apparatus and a -80ºC freezer
Geochemistry and mineralogy
The centre has a range of cutting-edge analytical equipment used to characterise the geochemistry and mineralogy of aquatic substrates and sediments. These are housed in a series of research laboratories. Key equipment includes:
- Rigaku Miniflex X-ray Diffractometer used for mineralogical analyses
- X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer used for bulk chemical analysis of rocks and sediments
- ICP-MS and ICP-OES used for chemical analysis of solutions and natural waters
- Shimadzu Carbon Analyser for the analysis of organic and inorganic carbon in water and sediment
- Gamma ray spectrometer used for radiometric dating of recent sediments
- Malvern Mastersizer 3000 and Horiba LA-960 Laser Particle Size Analysers capable of measuring grain sizes down to 0.02 µm for the characterisation of fine-grained sediments
Microscopy and microanalysis
The centre also has access to research-grade facilities for the micro-scale analysis of microflora/fauna, rocks, minerals, soils and sediments. Key facilities include:
- The microscope suite contains a Nikon E400 petrological microscope and Nikon stereomicroscope, both with camera attachments, plus a Nikon E600 microscope fitted with a LINKAM MDS600 heating-freezing stage for microthermometric work
- The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) suite contains two SEMs used for microanalytical investigations of a wide range of environmental materials