Eleni is working on a PhD project in conjunction with the Hampshire Avon DTC project.
The title of her PhD is: Transformations and aquatic impacts of Carbon exported from riparian wetlands.
Riparian wetlands can be the dominant source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to adjacent water bodies. Depending on their speciation, both dissolved and particulate forms of carbon play a role in regulating water quality. Forms of carbon have great ecological significance as they can influence factors such as microbial growth, metal transport and removal of hydrophobic organic contaminants. DOC in the aquatic environment is also related with the bioavailability of contaminants, as freely dissolved and not DOC-bound chemicals are available for uptake by organisms.
The main aims and objectives are:
- to determine the ecological significance of Carbon derived from riparian wetlands
- to compare the behaviour and sinks for Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus in an intensive agricultural (Ebbesbourne Wake) versus a peaty wetland (Millesford, New Forest)
- to assess the impact of exported DOC on the bioavailability and toxicity of pesticides