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Wetlands under threat: Linking microbiomes, nitrous oxide emissions and climate change
Supervisor: Laura Lehtovirta-Morley (BIO)
Amy Russell is a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholar at the University of East Anglia as part of the Critical Decade programme. Her research looks at the microbial communities of wetland habitats and how they contribute to global nitrogen cycles. Her work focuses on the cellular mechanisms that lead to nitrous oxide emissions, and how factors such as changing temperature and pH might alter these ecosystems and impact our predictions for global carbon and nitrogen budgets.
Amy’s interests lie in using science to find nature-based solutions that support the complexities of microscopic and macroscopic communities; aiming not to solve one problem only to create two more. In her final year project, of a Chemistry masters degree at the University of Bristol, she learnt to manipulate the cell machinery of bacterial cells to synthesise and harvest novel human-designed proteins. Amy’s experiences in community-led and nature-based projects highlighted to her the value of finding a balance between science, technology and working with natural systems. In her recent masters research project she looked at the evolution of a group of bacteria using bioinformatics techniques and gene sequencing technology to better understand the microbial communities that underpin the world’s ecosystems.
What are you most excited about in joining the Critical Decade PhD programme?
I am excited to be part of an interdisciplinary community dedicated to the issue of the climate crisis. I am excited to have conversations with people at the pub that will engage them, rather than make them want to leave, which is what currently happens… I believe that we live in a world of complex interconnected systems, and that we need to understand how these different disciplines interact so that we can move towards balance and away from tipping points. I am excited to be a part of the ClimateUEA community, and to be a part of positive and thoughtful change.