Natasha?Easton

PhD Studentship in a multidisciplinary investigation into urban air pollution in a port city

Hi, I'm?Natasha?Easton?and I am a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral scholar studying within the 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载 Marine and Maritime Institute, University of 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载.

I graduated in 2017 from the University of 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载 with an MChem in Chemistry. This was where I developed an interest in air quality research. During my degree I was fortunate enough to be awarded two summer studentships in quantitative analysis of indoor air (EXCEL 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载 and EPSRC, BMSS and RSC Separation Science Group). For my dissertation project I studied the characterisation of nanoparticles. Considering my background this project is ideal.

My research project focuses on particulate matter within 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载’s air. There is a wide range of natural and anthropogenic sources affecting the city and its inhabitants. One of the key focusses of this project is shipping. 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载 has one of the busiest ports in the UK, yet the port’s contribution to air quality is very poorly quantified. I will be collecting particulate matter and performing elemental and isotopic analyses to determine the contributions from each pollutant source.

The detrimental effects of particulate matter on health are currently gaining a lot of attention in the media. Understanding the air we breathe is not only important but is a very interesting area to research.

As a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholar I have a broad supervisory team encompassing three faculties:

Natural and Environmental Sciences (Prof Gavin Foster)

Medicine (Dr Matt Loxham)

Engineering and the Environment (Prof Simon Cox and Dr Steven Johnston)

This brings a large range of knowledge and skills together to best understand and progress the project. Being based at the National Oceanography Centre gives me a unique position with regards to the close proximity of my key data sites and the analytical instrumentation available.