• Question: Will your work help the environment?

    Asked by claireee8 to Jamie, Jodie, Kat, Mark, Niamh on 14 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Jamie Pringle

      Jamie Pringle answered on 12 Mar 2011:

      My research into detecting hazardous waste will! Sadly there are a lots of both accidental and deliberate spills or nasty waste which, if untreated and not removed, can have really bad affects on the local habitat and environment in which it is left.

      I have completed a few investigations now on behalf of the UK Environment Agency to look at different sites, try and find out a) how much waste has been dumped; 2) is it moving, i.e. spreading to other areas and c) can we tell when it was dumped, in order to work out the potential polluter.

      There are various ways of doing this, Niamh is an expert in some, but I use geophysical (literally ground physics) to work out where things have been buried and how much. Identifying when it was dumped is really tricky!

    • Photo: Katherine Davies

      Katherine Davies answered on 12 Mar 2011:

      Hi

      Hmmm. I dont think so, It certainly wont cause any detrimental or negative effect though! My work is aimed more at helping society (people). This could be varied, from standard forensic use (court cases etc) to helping prevent diseases in sheep, allowing people to get more money from produce (milk and wool) rather than them dying.

      Kat

    • Photo: Mark Hill

      Mark Hill answered on 13 Mar 2011:

      Hello Claire,

      I don’t know that my job will help the environment. If anything it may help road safety more, by finding the reasons for crashes and, where the road environment might be made safer, helping to improve safety for all.

      I would like to help the environment in my work, as I really support ‘green’ matters. Our behaviour today, especially with traffic pollution is damaging your (and my children’s) world for tomorrow. Believe it or not, but I don’t like driving, so I cycle, or run, to work each day. That saves me over £21.00 per week (seven day week), worked out for a car travelling at 50 miles per gallon (12p per mile) and keeps me fit.

      How is your maths? Can you tell me how far I work from home?

      Thanks for your question, on a really important subject.

      Mark.

    • Photo: Niamh Nic Daeid

      Niamh Nic Daeid answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Hi there

      yes some of our research work will. Some of my team are involved in looking a ways of repairing land that has been contaminated with heavy oils from industry. We are also investigating how to detect illegal drugs and explosives in river water. N

    • Photo: Jodie Dunnett

      Jodie Dunnett answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Not really the environment as such but hopefully if my work can help in the fight against opium production (the money from which helps to fund terrorism) I can have helped the world out in general!

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