Environmental pollution with metals is not exclusive to heavy metals but includes metals essential for life. Organisms have adapted to harvest these often-scarce metals and use them in essential cellular machinery such as superoxide dismutase (e.g. copper) and components of photosynthesis (e.g. iron, manganese and copper). Currently, we have a reasonable understanding of the individual toxicity levels of metals to overall health and organismal fitness. We are lacking a perspective on the levels of toxicity and/or benefit to organisms with different essential metal metallobiology and how these metals may influence cellular handling to cause interactions leading to unexpected effects in mixtures. Importantly there are examples in the literature that suggest strong interdependency of essential metals and with other elements, both lowering and heightening toxicity thresholds.
Your work will map the interactions between essential metals through understanding cellular speciation and biointeractions using the geometric framework developed in nutrition and metallobiology. You will generate the first data of how interactions between metals affect the health of organisms. As such your study will be into the basic biology of how essential metals impact physiology. Importantly these data can be used to understand environmental toxicity, impacting on environmental policy and conservation of ecosystems. To achieve this you will initially take advantage of the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster (at Sheffield), and will expand your findings to other species in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH). You will then interpret your findings using basic environmental impact models as a proof of principle through knowledge exchange with Natural Resources Wales.
You will be trained in experimental biology using a number of invertebrate species, genetics, physiological measurements, quantitative models and ecological models. As such you will develop both your hands-on skills in the lab as well as skills that are more quantitative skill based and this will be balanced equally throughout your training.
We are looking for an enthusiastic biologist, with a quantitative mindset, that is eager to move this project forward with the help of the multidisplinary supervisory team. The multi-disciplinary supervision team will provide you with theoretical and experimental expertise ranging from different organisms and scientific fields beyond ecotoxicology (e.g. biomedical science).
Supervisor: Dr Mirre Simons, Professor David Spurgeon (CEH), Dr Sean Sweeney (University of York)
Host organisation: University of Sheffield
Partner Organisation: Natural Resources Wales
The ECORISC CDT
This project is one of 21 projects being advertised by the NERC-funded ECORISC (Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment Towards Sustainable Chemical Use) Centre for Doctoral Training programme. Funding will be provided for 3 years and 10 months. During this time you will work on your research project but will also receive unique and outstanding training in pollution science and transferable skills.
Over the first two years of the PhD programme, you will receive subject-specific training, in: i) ecotoxicology; ii) environmental chemistry; iii) ecology; and iv) risk assessment; and v) core skills required for an environmental specialist. The formal training programme will be complemented by yearly residential challenge events and tailored specialist skills training conducted as group and individual exercises.
ECORISC students will also be required to undertake two workplace experiences based with our business, policy and regulation, third sector and research organisation partners.
An inclusive CDT programme
Inclusivity is at the heart of the ECORISC programme. We strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups and are employing a number of mechanisms, such as the possibility of part-time working, to ensure the programme is open to all. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process. If you have any questions, then please don’t hesitate to contact us at [Email Address Removed].
Eligibility and Application process
The studentships are open to highly motivated UK and international/EU applicants with at least an Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. Successful applicants will be passionate about environmental pollution science and want their science to make a difference.
To be considered for this and other PhD’s offered under the ECORISC CDT, you should initially complete a short online application form available on the ECORISC PhD Studentships web page. Applications should be submitted before 17:00 (British Summer Time) on Friday 9th December 2022. You will be notified of the outcome of the process by 17:00 Thursday 22nd December 2022.
Successful applicants will be provided with an opportunity to meet with supervisory teams and then be invited to submit a project-specific application form which will be used to shortlist candidates for an interview.
ECORISC open afternoon
We are running an online ‘open afternoon’ for you to learn more about the CDT and to ask questions on the programme or the application process. This event will run from 14:00-16:00 GMT on Wednesday 16th November 2022 and booking details can be found on the ECORISC website.
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