Contact
Biography
I am currently Professor of River Science and the Director of Research in the School of Geography. I was awarded a BSc Geography from the University of Nottingham in 2005, MSc Environmental Monitoring for Management from Loughborough University in 2006, and a PhD from Loughborough University in 2011.
My research interest is in understanding the interlinkages between hydrological, geomorphological and ecological processes and systems in rivers to inform more successful, and more sustainable, management of freshwaters.
Teaching Summary
My teaching reflects my research experience, being focused on river processes and management. My modules include field trips and laboratory work, as well as engagement with management practitioners… read more
Research Summary
I am interested in how aquatic organisms occupy, utilise and modify environments, working at the interface of hydrology, geomorphology and ecology.
A list of my academic outputs is available at my Google.Scholar page.
I am currently working on:
1) The ability of living organisms to alter physical processes, such as sediment transport, in rivers.
Living organisms can alter environments through their presence and activity, with implications for geomorphic and biochemical processes. I am interested in how invertebrate animals alter the flow of material through river systems, including the destabilisation of river beds and banks by the invasive signal crayfish (e.g. Article Link), which can also increase the transport of sediment through rivers (e.g.link). Organisms can also stabilise river substrates (e.g. Article Link) and alter the dynamics of sediment grains (e.g. Article Link).
2) The impacts of water quality and pollution on aquatic ecosystems.
I research pollutants in rivers, including the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in freshwater organisms (e.g. Article link), the presence of microplastics in rivers (e.g. Article Link) and the complex role of anthropogenic waste to aquatic communities (e.g. Article Link). I am particularly concerned with the sub-lethal impacts of pollutants on invertebrate organisms across multiple life stages (e.g Article Link).
Rising water temperature also has significant impacts on water quality and aquatic communities in rivers (e.g. Article link). I am working on how to identify and increase resilience of rivers to future warming (e.g. Article Link).
3) Better incorporation of ecological processes into river management frameworks.
My work is applied and I work with many partners in government, industry and charitable organisations. I am working on projects in the USA (e.g. Article link), China (e.g. Article link), Brazil (e.g. Article link) and UK (e.g. Article link) on novel river management schemes, which aim to better account for ecological processes in river management (e.g. Article Link)
I supervise Research Masters and PhD students working on freshwater science and management. My current students are:
Zhenghang Chen (2024) Modelling flash flooding in mountainous regions for improved risk management. UNNC scholarship.
Jintao Lu (2024) Using high resolution nutrient dynamics data to investigate sustainable reservoir regulation. UNNC DTP.
Xi He (2023) Restoring and rewilding rivers: social perceptions and ecological expectations. School of Geography Scholarship.
Jake Dimon (2023) Restoring oil palm rivers: assessing the effects of riparian re-vegetation and in-channel modifications on biodiversity and functionality. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Zilin Wang (2023) Understanding the Water-Carbon-Energy nexus in hydropower. UNNC scholarship.
Ed Dilks (2022) The impact of small impoundments and connectivity loss on fish distribution and abundance in river ecosystems: leveraging cutting edge geospatial modelling and eDNA approaches. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Katherine Hart (2022) A river catchment classification framework to optimise and inform future freshwater monitoring and policy in the UK. School of Geography scholarship
Melissa Mayer (2021) Detection, identification and quantification of microplastics in water. EPSRC scholarship; Molecular Imaging and Analysis DTP.
My graduated students are:
Lingwen Lu (2022-2025) Sustainable urban stormwater management for climate-resilient communities. UNNC-IUE CAS DTP.
Jiayu Wang (2022-2025) Advancing Sustainable Management of Chemicals via Mapping Material Cycles and Related Environmental Impacts of Key Chemicals. UNNC-IUE CAS DTP.
Tianyang Du (2019-2024) Thermal pollution in rivers due to cooling water from power plants and implications for system resilience to future change. Vice Chancellors scholarship for research excellence.
Calum Ramage (2019-2024) Assessing the impacts of organic and inorganic contaminants on British rivers: from sediments to fish. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Isobel Evans (2023-2024) Microplastic ingestion and egestion by freshwater invertebrates. MRes.
Hannah Markham (2019-2024) Impact of elevated phosphorus and fine sediment on aquatic invertebrate egg development. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Cesar Rodrigues (2019-2024) A holistic assessment of the invasion of signal crayfish (Pascifastacus leniusculus) in Great Britain: understanding the invasion of signal crayfish through their distribution, variations in traits across their invasion continuum and the attitudes of key stakeholders. Sir Francis Hill scholarship.
Yuyao Xu (2018-2022). Quantifying microplastics in freshwater environments in China. UNNC scholarship.
Amit Kumar (2018-2022) Investigating the factors influencing the transition from meteorological to hydrological droughts. Vice Chancellors scholarship for research excellence.
Abdulaziz Alsalah (2018-2022) SWAT model application to estimate runoff for ungauged arid catchments experiencing rapid urbanisation: Riyadh case study. King Saud University scholarship.
Andrea Sartorius (2018-2022). Ecosystem-wide Transfer of Trace Metal Pollutants from Derelict Metalliferous Mines in the UK. NERC ENVISION scholarship.
Alistair Delboyer (2017-2021) Mathematical Modelling of the Merging of Turbulent Plumes with Applications to Heat Pump Efflux. Leverhulme MASS scholarship.
Hazel Wilson (2017-2021). Reefs of rubbish: the ecological and geomorphological implications of litter in urban streams. EPSRC Engineering Water Resilience DTP.
Fernando Garzón (2017-2020). Exploring the optimal placement of Natural Flood Management (NFM) in different catchment configurations. Ceiba Scholarship.
Emily Richardson (2019-2020) Exploring the communication of flood risk through online geographic visualisation. MRes.
Richard Mason (2016-2020) The zoogeomorphology of case-building caddisfly. NERC CENTA scholarship.
Beth Dunstan (2019-2020) Sublethal Effects of Heavy Metals on Caddisfly Case-Building Behaviour. MRes.
Mikaela D'Souza (2018-2019) Public perceptions of flood management schemes in the UK. MRes.
Samuel Valman (2018-2019) Developing a typology of streams in the anthropocene: Disconnections between controls on river characteristics. MRes.
Thomas Stanton (2016-2019). A spatio-temporal record of microplastic particles and natural textile fibres in the River Trent and its tributaries, and in atmospheric deposition across the Trent catchment. Sir Francis Hill scholarship.
Liberty Mgbanyi (2015-2019). Predicting concentrated flow erosion in data sparse regions. Tetfund scholarship.
Thomas Stanton (2015-2016) Developing improved methodologies for the quantification of microplastics in wastewater treatment plant effluent and sludge. MRes.
My teaching reflects my research experience, being focused on river processes and management. My modules include field trips and laboratory work, as well as engagement with management practitioners and projects.
Matt convenes Rivers in the Landscape (2nd year; GEOG2008) and contributes to Planet Earth (1st year; GEOG1037) and Freshwater Management (3rd year; GEOG3015). I also supervise undergraduate and Masters dissertation students researching river processes and management.
Past Research
I am interested in how aquatic organisms occupy, utilise and modify environments, working at the interface of hydrology, geomorphology and ecology.
A list of my academic outputs is available at my Google.Scholar page.
I am currently working on:
1) The ability of living organisms to alter physical processes, such as sediment transport, in rivers.
Living organisms can alter environments through their presence and activity, with implications for geomorphic and biochemical processes. I am interested in how invertebrate animals alter the flow of material through river systems, including the destabilisation of river beds and banks by the invasive signal crayfish (e.g. Article Link), which can also increase the transport of sediment through rivers (e.g.link). Organisms can also stabilise river substrates (e.g. Article Link) and alter the dynamics of sediment grains (e.g. Article Link).
2) The impacts of water quality and pollution on aquatic ecosystems.
I research pollutants in rivers, including the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in freshwater organisms (e.g. Article link), the presence of microplastics in rivers (e.g. Article Link) and the complex role of anthropogenic waste to aquatic communities (e.g. Article Link). I am particularly concerned with the sub-lethal impacts of pollutants on invertebrate organisms across multiple life stages (e.g Article Link).
Rising water temperature also has significant impacts on water quality and aquatic communities in rivers (e.g. Article link). I am working on how to identify and increase resilience of rivers to future warming (e.g. Article Link).
3) Better incorporation of ecological processes into river management frameworks.
My work is applied and I work with many partners in government, industry and charitable organisations. I am working on projects in the USA (e.g. Article link), China (e.g. Article link), Brazil (e.g. Article link) and UK (e.g. Article link) on novel river management schemes, which aim to better account for ecological processes in river management (e.g. Article Link)