People


The soil and ecosystem research group consists of a number of students, post-docs and research fellows working on different aspects of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. We are always pleased to hear from people interested in coming to work with us at Lancaster.

Staff
Post Docs
Students
Collaborators

Richard Bardgett
Professor of Ecology & Group Leader
My research focuses on biological interactions in soil and how they influence ecosystem processes, such as plant growth, nutrient and carbon cycling. I am also interested in understanding how large mammalian herbivores impact on plant and soil properties of ecosystems.

Helen Quirk

In addition to overseeing activities in the lab, Helen is also directly involved in setting up and maintaining large scale field and mesocosm experiments at the university field station.

Kate Orwin
RCUK Research Fellow
My primary research interest is how plant-soil interactions affect ecosystem functioning. I am particularly interested in how plant and microbial community traits, diversity and spatial variation affect carbon cycling. I currently work in three ecosystems to answer questions related to these potential drivers of C cycling – peatland bog and grasslands in the UK, and temperate forest and grassland in New Zealand.

Franciska de Vries Postdoctoral Researcher My research interests are focused on the effects of land use and climate change on soil and plant communities, how they interact under these changing circumstances, and how this in turn influences ecosystem processes like nutrient and carbon cycling. I am currently working in the EU 7th Framework project SOILSERVICE, which investigates the conflicting demands of land use, soil biodiversity, and the sustainable delivery of ecosystem goods.
Carly Stevens Leverhulme Postdoctoral Research Fellow I am a Leverhulme Research Fellow working jointly with The Open University. My research focuses on the impact of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on semi-natural systems. I am also interested in how nitrogen deposition will interact with other global change drivers.
Sue Ward NERC Postdoctoral Researcher Sue's project is exploring how plant functional diversity influences C cycling in peatland ecosystems. Work is in close collaboration with Dr. Nick Ostle (CEH Lancaster).
Anna Wilkinson Postdoctoral Researcher I am interested in the effects of plant and microbial diversity and community structure on soil nutrient cycling, particularly carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). I am currently looking at the uptake of organic N forms in plant communities and investigating whether niche partitioning based on N form occurs between different plant species and soil microbial communities.

Sarah Dale NERC funded Phd student I am a PhD student investigating carbon cycling in lowland tropical rainforests. I am currently conducting a litter decomposition study in Panama.
Iain Gould BBSRC funded Phd student My project looks at how plant diversity can influence soil physical properties such as stability, strength and hydraulic conductivity. It is co-supervised by Professor John Quinton of the Soil Erosion and Diffuse Pollution Group.
Kathy Chandler BBSRC funded Phd student I am a PhD student investigating how trees affect soil properties that determine the rate at which water infiltrates the soil and how this varies between species.
Catherine Turner NERC funded Phd student My PhD is investigating how plant traits and land use affects microbial diversity and ecosystem services in mountain grasslands. The project is based on mesocosm experiments using varying combinations of 4 species, including measuring soil microbial properties under these combinations.
Eduardo Medina- Roldán Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) funded Phd student Grazing, plant traits and nitrogen acquisition.
Melanie Hartley NERC funded Phd student The effect of herbivory on C cycling in native regenerating forests. Co-supervised with Professor Peter Millard (Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen).
Mike Whitfield NERC funded Phd student My project focuses on the influence of plant functional types on soil microbial biodiversity and terrestrial carbon dynamics at the ecosystem level in peatlands. This is being achieved by combining extensive vegetation and peat survey data, and in situ gas flux measurements with GIS methodologies.

Our research depends heavily on collaborative projects with other research groups in the United Kingdom and overseas. Currently we have projects with the following individuals and organisations.
Professor David Wardle Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
Professor Diana Wall Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University , Colorado, USA.
Professor Wim H. van der Putten Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, The Netherlands.
Professor Heikki Setälä Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Niemenkatu, Finland.
Dr Rene Van Der Wal University of Aberdeen & Macaulay Institute, UK.
Professor Davey Jones Environment Centre Wales, University of Bangor, Wales, UK.
Dr Nick Ostle and Dr Niall McNamara Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster, UK.
Dr Ben Turner Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancòn Panamà, Repùblica de Panamà .
Dr Roland Bol Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Devon, UK.
Professor Lawrence R. Walker School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.
Dr Kevin Newsham British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, UK.
Dr Katarina Hedlund Department of Ecology, Lund University, Sweden.