2024/5
A Year of Firsts
2024 was an exciting year for the Red-ALERT CDT, after starting the year with a proposal and lots of plans, we welcomed our first PhD students in October 2024 with a first visit to Bath for their first Red-ALERT training course.
This year there will be more firsts, with our inaugural Red-ALERT Conference on 31 March & 01 April, to celebrate and showcase the work our students and staff have been doing over the last few months, for our many external partners and supervisors from across our partner institutions.
Here’s to many more firsts!
University of Bath Training Course
We kicked off our training programme in October 2024 with the Bath course in ‘Water-Based EWS – Enabling Technology’. This was also a first for our students to meet each other in person, and to begin working together as a Red-ALERT cohort of researchers.
The course concluded with a trip to the Paulton Wessex Water Sewage Treatment Works, where the group were introduced to wastewater treatment processes; exploring water flow measurement and looking at riverbed organisms to assess water quality in the local river Cam.
Cardiff University continued the Year 1 Red-ALERT training programme, hosting their ‘Ecosystem Services & Socio-ecological Systems’ focused event in December 2024.
Our students got to assess the effectiveness of early warning systems for managing emerging pollutants; attend a workshop on managing the pressures of a PhD; and a tour of Cardiff Bay by the Port authority, demonstrating the historical and community impact of changes in urban water bodies.
Cardiff University Training Course
Yanting Zhang on the River Taff Sampling Campaign
Yanting, one of our Cardiff University PhD students, participated in a sampling campaign along the River Taff in January 2025 as part of her research focusing on spatial distribution and the identification of sources of microplastics in freshwater systems.
The team collected water, soil and litter samples from five sites, which will undergo laboratory analysis to quantify microplastic concentrations and characterize polymer types, with the aim to distinguish potential sources of microplastics in the River Taff.
A member of the Future Fibres Network, Holly had the opportunity to visit the School of Design at the University of Leeds in January 2025.
Holly’s research focuses on microfibre pollutions, examining not only plastics, but also fibres made from natural and regenerated materials. Holly noted the visit to Leeds provided a valuable opportunity to engage with leading academics in textile design and engineering, and enhanced her understanding of how to identify origins of microfibres from environmental samples.
Holly Roberts’ Visit to University of Leeds, School of Design
Eleanor Kirk Presents her Research at the University of Plymouth
Eleanor was invited by Dr Oliver Tills, her project external partner and supervisor from the EmbryoPhenomics team at Plymouth University, to present on her interests in ecotoxicology, and the pathway to her PhD.
Her talk highlighted her academic and industry experience, as well as her work at the Environment Agency, and how these experiences shaped her interest in how environmental factors influence evolutionary adaption, leading her to the field of ecotoxicology. Eleanor noted this was a great opportunity to engage with researchers in related fields, and introduce the Red-ALERT CDT!
Our first Red-ALERT Conference
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