Dr Grainne El Mountassir

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Civil and Environmental Engineering

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Personal statement

Dr El Mountassir is a Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering and Director for Research in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Her research focuses on developing novel technologies using biological and biochemical processes that can alter the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of soils and rocks. Over the last ten year the team at Strathclyde have been developing microbially induced calcite precipitation as a technique for rock grouting, soil stabiliation, well sealing and concrete repair. More recently she has been leading investigations into the potential use of fungi and their hyphal networks in ground improvement applications.

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Publications

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation for soil improvement : insights from a meter-scale radial grouting trial
Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, Minto James M, El Mountassir Grainne
Biogeotechnics (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bgtech.2024.100157
Improving non-uniform gravelly sand using microbially induced carbonate precipitation : an outdoor cubic-meter scale trial by engineering contractors
Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M, McLachlan Erica, Bradley David, Henderson Kenneth
Engineering Geology Vol 343 (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107791
Influence of environmental conditions on the growth of Pleurotus ostreatus in sand  
Salifu Emmanuel, Di Rauso Simone Giuseppe, Russo Giacomo, Rao Maria, A, Urciuoli Gianfranco, El Mountassir Grainne
Biogeotechnics (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bgtech.2024.100137
Meter-scale MICP improvement of medium graded very gravelly sands : lab measurement, transport modelling, mechanical and microstructural analysis
Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
Engineering Geology Vol 324 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107275
Transport and fate of ureolytic Sporosarcina pasteurii in saturated sand columns: experiments and modelling
Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
Transport in Porous Media Vol 149, pp. 599-624 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-023-01973-x
Treatment of fractured concrete via microbially induced carbonate precipitation : from micro-scale characteristics to macro-scale behaviour
Turner Ronald, Castro Gloria M, Minto James, El Mountassir Grainne, Lunn Rebecca J
Construction and Building Materials Vol 384 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131467

More publications

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Teaching

I teach CL217 Soil mechanics and the Graduate Apprenticship module EO206 (Soils & Water 2), both to second year students.

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Research Interests

My research is largely experimental and focuses on understanding the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of soils and rocks. I am particularly interested in the potential use of biological processes in geotechnical engineering. I am currently developing novel grouting technologies including microbially induced calcite precipitation as a technique for sealing fine aperture fractures and silica sol as a low viscosity grout. I am also investigating the possible deployment of fungi within ground engineering applications.

Professional Activities

Applied Clay Science (Journal)
Peer reviewer
8/2022
Invited speaker Cheltenham Science Festival 2022
Recipient
10/6/2022
Calcite Biomineralisation for the Repair of Damaged Concrete
Contributor
20/9/2021
Internal Examiner PhD Viva
Examiner
9/2021
Invited talk at Dundee Root Medal Workshop 2021
Speaker
5/2021
Invited talk at Nature-Inspire solutions for the Built Environment
Speaker
2/2021

More professional activities

Projects

MG36176 - Diamond Synchrotron: Understanding the controls on saprotrophic fungal growth in porous media
El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator) Zhang, Qi (Co-investigator) Minto, James (Co-investigator) Castro, Gloria (Co-investigator) Divers, Matt (Co-investigator) Dobson, Kate (Co-investigator)
Fungi play vital roles in natural soil ecosystems in the decomposition of organic matter, carbon cycling, nutrient distribution and symbiosis with plants. It is believed that soil fungi and their role in plant-soil feedback processes will play a critical role in achieving global food security amidst land scarcity and soil and water degradation. Furthermore, fungi can offer us solutions to engineering challenges including: remediation of contaminated land and stabilisation of slopes by modifying soil hydraulic and mechanical behaviour. This proposal aims to investigate in fully 3D conditions for the first time the controls on the growth of saprotrophic fungi in soil.
13-Jan-2024 - 17-Jan-2024
Tailings stabilisation (dewatering) utilising MICP
Minto, James (Principal Investigator) El Mountassir, Grainne (Co-investigator)
08-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2024
DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | Nagy, Benedek
El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator) Tarantino, Alessandro (Co-investigator) Nagy, Benedek (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2027
iPACT_MICP for repair and protection of coastal infrastructure (v2)
El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
iPACT- Bio-physical interactions in managing coastal dynamics
El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
Smart pumping for Subsurface Engineering (Prosperity Partnership) | Hughes-Buchanan, Adam
El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator) Ward, Andrew (Co-investigator) Hughes-Buchanan, Adam (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2026

More projects

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Contact

Dr Grainne El Mountassir
Reader
Civil and Environmental Engineering

Email: grainne.elmountassir@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3252