Personal statement
I am a geochemist with interdisciplinary research interests in earth resources & pollution, low carbon energy, sustainability, engineering and the environment. I have particular expertise in the reuse of wastes in the bio-based Circular Economy and the remediation and reuse of contaminated or brownfield land to deliver net zero.
After joining Strathclyde in 2012 I won CEE’s first KTP for 25 years with Scottish Canals on reusing dredged sediments, while my earlier KTP with Northumbrian Water on reusing water treatment residues was nominated for KTP of the year. As CEE’s Director of Knowledge Exchange for 7 years I was the Engineering Faculty’s KTP champion, securing funding for a further KTP for the Department with William Tracey.
I now lead Strathclyde’s contribution to two international research consortium projects which each develop my earlier research themes: The €8M SURICATES Interreg NWE project (Sediment Uses as Resources in Circular And Territorial EconomieS) addresses the largest non-mining waste stream in the EU with a consortium of 14 European partners. The €3.5M CERESiS H2020 Project (ContaminatEd land Remediation through Energy crops for Soil improvement to liquid biofuel Strategies) is addressing two key issues: the legacy of contaminated land and the requirements for high energy density liquid biofuels for transport to meet our Net-Zero targets, through a truly international consortium of 12 partners, from Canada, Brazil, Ukraine and Europe.
I currently lead the Circular Land & Water research group, within the Centre for Water, Sustainability & Public Health, and am subtheme co-ordinator for Environmental Impact for the University’s “Energy” research theme.
I lead and deliver CEE’s three group design project modules for 5th year MEng and MSc Civil/Environmental Engineering students CL518, CL519 and CL966.
I am open to PhD student enquiries in all of the above areas.
Professional activities
- Could contaminated land provide the solution for bioenergy’s sustainability problem?
- Contributor
- 7/9/2021
- Can non-agricultural, brownfield or contaminated land be used for sustainable bioenergy production
- Speaker
- 12/7/2021
- Beneficial use of river sediments as topsoil for passive carbon capture and storage during land restoration and energy crop production – A Net Zero management option
- Speaker
- 2/7/2021
- Results of long-term monitoring of a river sediment reuse and phyto-stabilisation trial using reed canarygrass
- Speaker
- 2/7/2021
- Beneficial use of river sediments as topsoil for passive carbon capture and storage during land restoration and energy crop production
- Speaker
- 10/2/2021
- SedNet Working Group on Sediments in the Circular Economy
- Organiser
- 15/4/2020
More professional activities
Projects
- ContaminatEd land Remediation through Energy crops for Soil Improvement to liquid fuels Strategies
- Lord, Richard (Principal Investigator) Torrance, Keith (Co-investigator) Nunn, Benjamin (Post Grad Student)
- Horizon 2020 project, addressing call *LC-SC3-RES-35-2020: Combined clean biofuel production and phytoremediation solutions from contaminated lands worldwide
- 01-Jan-2020 - 30-Jan-2024
- Development of Framework for Sustainable Decommissioning by Utilising the expertise gained in Ship Recycling
- Turan, Osman (Principal Investigator) Beverland, Iain (Co-investigator) Kurt, Rafet (Co-investigator) Lord, Richard (Co-investigator) Phoenix, Vernon (Co-investigator) Gunbeyaz, Sefer Anil (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019 - 30-Jan-2020
- Feasibility of phytoremediation on former mine sites, Derwent Reservoir catchment, NE England
- Lord, Richard (Principal Investigator)
- 18-Jan-2018 - 17-Jan-2021
- What happens to groundwater chemistry during fault slip: implications for rock friction (£1.2K)
- Stillings, Mark (Principal Investigator) Shipton, Zoe (Co-investigator) Lunn, Rebecca (Co-investigator) Lord, Richard (Co-investigator)
- Mimicking the pressure changes in groundwater during earthquakes. Changes in groundwater pressure can trigger precipitation and dissolution of minerals, changing water chemistry and fracture surfaces. This in turn can lead to changes in rock friction, potentially increasing the magnitude of future earthquakes.
- 31-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2019
- Groundwater geochemistry changes during unloading due to reservoir drainage: Main study (£25K)
- Lord, Richard (Principal Investigator) Stillings, Mark (Post Grad Student) Lunn, Rebecca (Co-investigator) Shipton, Zoe (Co-investigator) Boyce, Adrian J. (Co-investigator)
- Use of NERC Isotope Community Support Facility Application IP-1762-1117 (£25K)
- 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2019
- SURICATES Interreg NWE 462 - Sediment Uses as Resources in Circular And Territorial Economies.
- Lord, Richard (Principal Investigator) Bertram, Doug (Co-investigator) João, Elsa (Co-investigator) Zawdie, Girma (Co-investigator) Tarantino, Alessandro (Co-investigator)
- €5.7M Interreg NWE Industrial Research Partnership
- 21-Jan-2017 - 21-Jan-2022
More projects
Address
Civil and Environmental Engineering
James Weir Building
James Weir Building
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