Staff profile

I have over 25 years of experience working in various technical roles in industry and academia. Prior to joining the university as a research technician in 2005, I was the principle chemist and senior chemist in two local UKAS/MCERTS accredited contract laboratories where I was responsible for supervising a small team of analysts.

Joining the university allowed me to get more directly involved with analytical research and development, a part of the job that I most enjoy. In 2010 I was promoted to senior analytical scientific officer with direct responsibility for the day-to-day running of the chemical analysis laboratories within the department.

Responsibilities within department

• Management of the Analytical Laboratory.
• Management of the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) facilties.
• Provide advice, training and supervision for users of the laboratory facilities.
• Method/Instrument development and validation.
• Instrument maintenance and repair.

Expertise/Specialisations:

• GC-IRMS, EA-IRMS.
• GC/MS (including pyrolysis-GC/MS, CI-GC/MS).
• HR-GC/MS (Orbitrap-Non-targeted Analysis - including use of Compound Discoverer Software).
• LC-MS/MS.
• Gamma Spectroscopy/Gamma dating.
• ICP-MS.
• UV-vis Spectrometry.

Other Analytical Techniques

• Elemental Analysis (CHNSO) by combustion.
• TOC/DOC/TN (in waters by combustion).
• IC and IC/MS.
• GC-FID.
• GC-TOF
• ICP-OES.
• AAS (HG-AAS).
• Bomb Calorimetry.
• XRF.
• Various extractions/titrations/colorimetric procedures and associated instruments.

Journal Article

• McClymont, E. L., Bentley, M. J., Hodgson, D. A., Spencer-Jones, C. L., Wardley, T., West, M. D., …Phillips, R. A. (2022). Summer sea-ice variability on the Antarctic margin during the last glacial period reconstructed from snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) stomach-oil deposits. Climate of the Past, 18(2), 381-403. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022
• Hilton, R. G., Turowski, J. M., Winnick, M., Dellinger, M., Schleppi, P., Williams, K. H., …Hayton, A. (2021). Concentration‐discharge relationships of dissolved rhenium in Alpine catchments reveal its use as a tracer of oxidative weathering. Water Resources Research, 57(11), Article e2021WR029844. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021wr029844
• Morley, P., Jump, A., West, M. D., & Donoghue, D. (2020). Spectral response of chlorophyll content during leaf senescence in European beech trees. Environmental Research Communications, 2(7), Article 071002. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/aba7a0
• Wang, J., Howarth, J., McClymont, E., Densmore, A., Fitzsimons, S., Croissant, T., …Hilton, R. (2020). Long-term patterns of hillslope erosion by earthquake-induced landslides shape mountain landscapes. Science Advances, 6(23), Article eaaz6446. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz6446
• Johnson, K., McCann, C., Wilkinson, J., Jones, M., Tebo, B., West, M., …Hudson-Edwards, K. (2018). Dissolved Mn(III) in Water Treatment Works: Prevalence and Significance. Water Research, 140, 181-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.04.038