Dr Katherine Dobson

Senior Lecturer

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Personal statement

I joined Strathclyde in 2019 as a Chancellor’s Fellow in Energy, and hold a joint appointment as a lecturer in both Civil & Environmental Engineering and Chemical and process Engineering. I am a geologist by background, but my research routinely bridges disciplines. Having spent time in Geoscience, Materials Science and Engineering departments, I regularly bring methods across traditional subject and area boundaries, especially at the interfaces between geology, materials science, environmental science and engineering. My main research interests lie in understanding the behaviour and evolution of both natural and man-made materials. More specifically it is questions about how the microstructure of a material evolves through time, and therefore changes the properties and behaviour of the larger system that underpins most of my work. To do this, I use x-ray computed tomography to see inside materials and objects and quantify their internal structures, and a range of experimental and analytical methods to observe the physical, chemical and biological changes within the sample overtime.

Publications

Time resolved in situ X-ray tomographic microscopy unraveling dynamic processes in geologic systems
Marone Federica, Schlepütz Christian M, Marti Sina, Fusseis Florian, Velásquez-Parra Andrés, Griffa Michele, Jiménez-Martínez Joaquín, Dobson Katherine J, Stampanoni Marco
Frontiers in Earth Sciences Vol 7 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00346
Vesicle shrinkage in hydrous phonolitic melt during cooling
Allabar A, Dobson K J, Bauer C C, Nowak M
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Vol 175 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-020-1658-3
The evolution of paleo-porosity in basalts : reversing pore filling mechanisms using X-ray Computed Tomography
Macente A, Dobson K J, MacDonald J, Wadsworth F B, Vasseur J
Transport in Porous Media Vol 145, pp. 697-717 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-022-01869-2
The permeability of loose magma mush
Bretagne Eloise, Wadsworth Fabian B, Vasseur Jérémie, Dingwell Don, Dobson Katherine J, Humphreys Madeleine, Rooyakkers Shane
EGU General Assembly 2022 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12185
Replacing pulversized fly ash in cement with natural and anthropogenic geomaterials identifying the corresponding physico-chemical properties used for the encapsulation of low-level waste
Kozlowski Andrea, Renshaw Joanna, Dobson Katherine J
EGU General Assembly 2022 (2022)
Experimental simulation of burial diagenesis and subsequent 2D-3D characterization of sandstone reservoir quality
Charlaftis Dimitrios, Dobson Katherine J, Jones Stuart J, Lakshtanov Dmitry, Crouch Jonathan, Cook Jennie
Frontiers in Earth Science Vol 10 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.766145

More publications

Research interests

I apply x-ray tomography to investigate the textures within natural and man-made materials. The method is non destructive, and can be applied to a wide range of samples and sample sizes, and can be used on samples as they are heated, cooled, compressed, stretched, twisted, stirred or inundated by a range of different fluids.

My work focusses on the latest state-of-the-art 3D and real time 4D imaging techniques. In 4D studies, the ability to inside the sample as it undergoes a change allows us to collect a "movie", where each frame is a full 3D x-ray tomography image. In my own core research, the individual 3D images of the movie are each collected in under a second. For other studies it is enough to image every few seconds, few hours, or even every few months depending on the rate and magnitude of change you wish to observe. This allows me to track the location and interactions between particles or between bubbles, to quantify fracture propagation, to capture dissolution or precipitation as it occurs, to observe fluids passing through pore throats, or corrosion, or sintering, or root growth. The opportunities are almost endless.

Current research projects include:

  • Multi-phase flows and rheology in complex and concentrated fluids (NERC-IRF)
  • Understanding pore scale controls on slope stability to improve embankment and cutting resilience to climate change (ACHILLES)
  • Diffusion and bubble growth in silicate melts
  • In situ deformation of composite materials
  • Damage zone development
  • Continuous manufactuing
  • Sustainable resource management
  • Environmental management and remediation
  • Sintering and densification processes
  • Permeability evolution in the subsurface
  • Subsurface fluid flow and fluid-rock interactions
  • Pore scale processes
  • Soil mechanics
  • The physical-chemical-biological interactions that control soil fertility

 

PhD projects Available for 2021 start

I am happy to accept PhD students on projects starting in 2021.  Please follow the links or contact me to find out more information about any of the projects below.  If you are interested in working in another of the areas listed above, please contact me to discuss your project ideas.

 

 

  • Pore-Scale Imaging of Cross Fault Flow in High Porosity Sandstones using High Pressure-Temperature Fluid Tomography

Please contact me for further information
No funding in place, but scholarship opportunities are still available for 2021 start.

  • Microstructural controls on the rheology of complex fluids

Please contact me for further information
No funding in place, but scholarship opportunities are still available for 2021 start.

  • From micro- to macro- understanding how pore-scale behaviours control slope stability in embankments and cuttings

Please contact me for further information
No funding in place, but scholarship opportunities are still available for 2021 start.

 

Current PhD Students

  • Rory Brittain University of Strathclyde, Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Geosciences towards Net Zero

  • Phil Salter University of Strathclyde, Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Geosciences towards Net Zero

  • Andrea Kozlowski University of Strathclyde, Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Nuclear Disposal

  • Izabella Otalega University of Strathclyde, Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Oil and Gas

  • Tariro Gwandu Durham University,Enineering

Soil Mechanics, Sustainability

  • Eloise Bretagne Durham University, Earth Sciences

Magmatism, Complex fluids

  • Catriona Sellick Durham University, Earth Sciences

Enhanced Oil Recovery

  • Bridie Davies University of East Anglia, Enviornmental Sciences

Volcanism, Hazard

  • Nikos Apeiranthitis University of Durham, Earth Sciences

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Professional activities

XCT Imaging and Analysis Training Course
Organiser
4/4/2022
EURO-Conference on Rock Physics & Geomechanics
Organiser
30/8/2021
EURO-Conference on Rock Physics & Geomechanics
Member of programme committee
30/8/2021
An introduction to the GeoX Suite
Organiser
15/2/2021
ESRF - The European Synchrotron (External organisation)
Member
2021
X-ray tomography image analysis for engineers and geoscientists
Organiser
2/12/2020

More professional activities

Projects

The GeoX Suite: Environmental cells for NERC research usin in situ imaging
Dobson, Kate (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2019 - 31-Jan-2020
NERC:Training Grant 3D and 4D imaging - key skills for the Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
Dobson, Kate (Principal Investigator) Burnett, Timothy (Co-investigator)
05-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2023
3D and 4D imaging - key skills for the Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences - NERC XCT Training Course
Dobson, Kate (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2023
EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURES ON CEMENT BACKFILL (NRVB)
Hamilton, Andrea (Principal Investigator) Bots, Pieter (Co-investigator) Dobson, Kate (Co-investigator) Edwards, Paul (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2025
ADVANCED CHARACTERISATION OF HYDROTHERMALLY AGED CEMENT (10 YEARS OLD)
Hamilton, Andrea (Principal Investigator) Bots, Pieter (Co-investigator) Dobson, Kate (Co-investigator) Edwards, Paul (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2025
Doctoral Training Partnership 2020-2021 University of Strathclyde | Brittain, Rory
Dobson, Kate (Principal Investigator) El Mountassir, Grainne (Co-investigator) Phirani, Jyoti (Co-investigator) Pytharouli, Stella (Co-investigator) Brittain, Rory (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2024

More projects

Address

Civil and Environmental Engineering
James Weir

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