Sarah Cook

Contact

• workRoom Room C25 Gateway Building
  Sutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• Sarah.Cook@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

I am an environmental researcher and field scientist with a broad interest in aquatic ecosystems, their functionality and resilience to land-use change. Particular interests include:

-Pathways of water pollution in natural environment

-Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon cycling in aquatic ecosystems

-Emerging environmental contaminants

-Multidisciplinary approaches to water stewardship

-Nature-based solutions to water quality remediation (i.e. constructed wetlands)

-The role of citizen science in environmental monitoring

Expertise Summary

My research is directed at exploring the pathways of water pollutants in natural environments, alongside the interplay between land-use change and the functioning/resilience of land to surface water pathways for both water and carbon. This involves methodologies drawn from across Hydrology, Biology and Ecology to understand the interplay between the physical and biological environment in controlling pollution biodegradation in different flow domains (i.e. rivers & urban drainage systems) using in-situ field studies and controllable purpose-built laboratory flumes. More recently, this has expanded to experimentally consider the interplay between bed morphology and sediment size on biofilm community development and the feedback on hyporheic exchange mechanisms.

Recent projects include integrating the physical understanding of pollutant behaviour into locally led solutions to target plastic and other water pollution, ensuring the priorities of the community are embedded. Part of this involved co-developing an innovative and transdisciplinary citizen science toolkit for community driven solutions to address water quality challenges in both the UK and India.

I have experience in quantifying catchment hydrology using salt dilution gauging and chloride mass balance approaches, spectrophotometric techniques to determine water quality (i.e. SUVA₂₅₄), tracer experiments using recirculating flumes, alongside intrusive and non-intrusive solute and microplastics tracer measurement techniques.

More recently, I am involved in a project looking at greenhouse gas emissions from small artificial bodies of water (i.e. garden ponds) to investigate the role of nutrients and carbon in determining emissions.

To date, I have worked across Geography, Earth Science, Biology and Engineering departments on collaborative international projects in Malaysian Borneo and India.

Selected Publications

• COOK, S, ABOLFATHI, A and GILBERT, N.I., 2021. Goals and approaches in the use of citizen science for exploring plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems: A review. Freshwater Science.
• PEACOCK, M., AUDET, J., BASTVIKEN, D., COOK, S., EVANS, C. D., GRINHAM, A., HOLGERSON, M. A., HOGBOM, L., PICKARD, A. E., ZIELINSKI, P. and FUTTER, M. N., 2021. Small artificial waterbodies are widespread and persistent emitters of methane and carbon dioxide GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY. 27(20), 5109-5123
• COOK, S, CHEN, H.L, ABOLFATHI, S, BENDING, G.D, SCHÄFER, H and PEARSON, J.M, 2020. Quantifying microplastic transport in aquatic flows using fluorometric techniques Water Research.
• COOK, S, OLIVER, P, KING, A, FINNEGAN, R, EGMOND, R, SCHAFER, H, PEARSON, JM, ABOLFATHI, S and BENDING, GD, 2020. Bedform characteristics and biofilm community development interact to modify hyporheic exchange Science of the Total Environment.

• View all publications

• STANTON T, CHICO G, CARR E, COOK S, GOMES RL, HEARD E, LAW A, WILSON H and JOHNSON M, 2022. Planet Patrolling: A citizen science brand audit of anthropogenic litter in the context of national legislation and international policy Journal of Hazardous Materials.
• SARA A. THORNTON, SARAH COOK, LYDIA COLE, K. ANGGI HAPSARI, NORLIYANA ZIN ZAWAWI and SUSAN E. PAGE, 2022. From Muddy Glee to muddy reflections on fieldwork and writing Area Royal Geographical Society.
• STANTON, THOMAS, CHICO, GUADUNETH, CARR, ELIZABETH, COOK, SARAH, GOMES, RACHEL LOUISE, HEARD, ELIZABETH, LAW, ANTONIA, WILSON, HAZEL L. and JOHNSON, MATTHEW, 2022. Planet Patrolling: A citizen science brand audit of anthropogenic litter in the context of national legislation and international policy JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. 436,
• SAVAGE, JESSICA, COOK, SARAH and YEBOAH, GODWIN, 2021. Tourist Traps: Assessing the Role of Tourism in Sustaining Life Below Water. In: FILHO, WALTER LEAL, ANABELA MARISA, BRANDLI, LUCIANA, LANGE SALVIA, AMANDA and WALL, TONY, eds., Life Below Water. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Springer.
• PEACOCK, M., AUDET, J., BASTVIKEN, D., COOK, S., EVANS, C. D., GRINHAM, A., HOLGERSON, M. A., HOGBOM, L., PICKARD, A. E., ZIELINSKI, P. and FUTTER, M. N., 2021. Small artificial waterbodies are widespread and persistent emitters of methane and carbon dioxide GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY. 27(20), 5109-5123
• COOK, S, ABOLFATHI, A and GILBERT, N.I., 2021. Goals and approaches in the use of citizen science for exploring plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems: A review. Freshwater Science.
• COOK, S, CHEN, H.L, ABOLFATHI, S, BENDING, G.D, SCHÄFER, H and PEARSON, J.M, 2020. Quantifying microplastic transport in aquatic flows using fluorometric techniques Water Research.
• COOK, S, OLIVER, P, KING, A, FINNEGAN, R, EGMOND, R, SCHAFER, H, PEARSON, JM, ABOLFATHI, S and BENDING, GD, 2020. Bedform characteristics and biofilm community development interact to modify hyporheic exchange Science of the Total Environment.
• ABOLFATHI, SOROUSH, COOK, SARAH, YEGANEH-BAKHTIARY, ABBAS, BORZOOEI, SINA and PEARSON, JONATHAN, 2020. MICROPLASTICS TRANSPORT AND MIXING MECHANISMS IN THE NEARSHORE REGION Coastal Engineering Proceedings. papers.63
• THORNTON, S.A, COOK, S, ASTIANI, D, HAPSARI, K.A, VARKKEY, H, COLE, L.E, DARGIE, G.C, SJOGERSTEN, AS, ZAWAWI, N.Z and PAGE, S.E, 2019. “Pushing the Limits”: Women in Tropical Peatland Research. Marine & Freshwater Science Marine & Freshwater Science.
• COOK, S, EVANS, C.D, WHELAN, M.J, GAUCI, V, WHELAN, M.J, GARNETT, M, TEH, Y.A, KHO, L.K and PAGE, S.E, 2018. Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland Biogeosciences.
• COOK, S, PEACOCK, M, EVANS, C.D, PAGE, S.E, WHELAN, M and GAUCI, V, 2017. Quantifying tropical peatland dissolved organic carbon using UV-visible spectrometry Water Research.
• MATERIC, D, PEACOCK, M, KENT, M, COOK, S, GAUCI, V and ROCKMAN, T, 2017. Characterisation of dissolved organic carbon by thermal desorption-proton-transfer reaction-mass spectrometry Nature Scientific Reports.
• COOK, S, PEACOCK, M, EVANS, C.D, PAGE, S.E, WHELAN, M and GAUCI, V, Cold Storage as a method for the long-term preservation of tropical dissolved organic carbon (DOC) Mires and Peat.