Projects per year
Overview
Profile summary
I am Professor of Catchment Science with interests in soil erosion, its downstream impacts and associated land management challenges. I specialise in development and application of environment forensic/diagnostic approaches to solve complex sediment and pollution problems from catchment to coast.
I undertake research, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in river basin science and physical geography.
Director of the Sustainable Earth Institute.
Director of the University of Plymouth Consolidated Radioisotope Facility (CoRiF).
Professional memberships
- Fellow of Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
- International Association for Sediment Water Science (IASWS)
- International Association of Hydrological Science (IAHS)
- British Society for Geomorphology (BSG)
Roles on external bodies
Member of UN FAO/IAEA Coordinated Research Project D1.50.17 on “Nuclear Techniques for a Better Understanding of the Impact of Climate Change on Soil Erosion in Upland Agro-ecosystems”
Formerly on International Association for Sediment Water Science Board of Directors
Teaching interests
I teach on the following subjects with a strong emphasis on linking teaching to my research:
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Hillslope hydrology and soil erosion
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River basin fine sediment dynamics from catchment to coast
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Environmental pollution (especially sediment quality and legacy impacts of mining)
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Catchment science and management
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Catchment ecosystem services
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Geohazards: wildfire
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Geographical science methods
Wherever possible, my class teaching of process theory is supported by field- and laboratory-based practicals e.g. rainfall simulation to explore impacts agriculture on overland flow and soil erosion or quantification of the environmental quality of streams to assess the effectiveness of catchment sensitive farming.
I have run overseas fieldtrips to the rainforest of Malaysian Borneo where I work on logging impacts on river sediments. I am keen to offer students opportunity to gain professional catchment science experience and regularly employ undergraduate and masters students within my research programmes to assist with field sampling and laboratory analysis. This includes training students to work to ISO9001:2008 standard in the University Consolidated Radioisotope Facility of which I am Director.
I undertake research project supervision on BSc (Hons) Geography and related programmes and MSc projects within the 'Sustainable Environmental Management' and Environmental consultancy' programmes.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Projects
- 1 Finished
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Entrepreneurial Futures. Nurturing, embedding and accelerating an entrepreneurial culture in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: an agile approach from higher and further education providers
Goodhew, S. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Alencastro, J. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Agarwal, S. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Knight, H. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Warwick, P. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Blake, W. (PI - Principal Investigator), Lunt, P. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Davidson, S. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Davey, P. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Greaves, D. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Ansell, L. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Johanning, L. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Whitley, T. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Hann, M. (CoI - Co-Investigator), Lopez-Santander, A. (CoI - Co-Investigator) & Rihan, H. (CoI - Co-Investigator)
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth
1/10/23 → 31/03/25
Project: Research
Research output
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Fine sediment-associated contaminants in gravel bed rivers: Evaluating storage times and turnover using fallout radionuclides (FRNs)
Muñoz-Arcos, E. G., Millward, G. E., Clason, C. C., Bravo-Linares, C. M. & Blake, W. H., 10 Jan 2025, In: Science of the Total Environment. 959, 178177.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure) -
Accumulation of Environmental Radioactivity on the Surface of a High Arctic Ice Cap (Flade Isblink, NE Greenland)
Beard, D. B., Baccolo, G., Clason, C. C., Millward, G. E., Łokas, E., Di Stefano, E., Rangecroft, S., Sala, D., Wachniew, P. & Blake, W. H., 6 Aug 2024, In: Environmental Science and Technology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
An Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) Tool for Tracer Selection in Sediment and Pollution Fingerprinting Studies
Ovando-Fuentealba, L., Blake, W. H., Taylor, A., Clason, C. & Bravo-Linares, C., 22 Mar 2024, In: Environmental Forensics. 25, 6, p. 574-586 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Atmospheric radioisotopes in cryoconite from the Flade Isblink ice cap, NE Greenland
Beard, D., Baccolo, G., Clason, C., Millward, G., Łokas, E., Rangecroft, S., Sala, D., Wachniew, P. & Blake, W., 8 Mar 2024.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
Open AccessFile10 Downloads (Pure) -
Basin scale sources of siltation in a contaminated hydropower reservoir
Bravo-Linares, C., Ovando-Fuentealba, L., Muñoz-Arcos, E., Kitch, J. L., Millward, G. E., López-Gajardo, R., Cañoles-Zambrano, M., Del Valle, A., Kelly, C. & Blake, W. H., 1 Mar 2024, In: Science of the Total Environment. 914, 169952.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Land cover and sediment geochemistry in the Rio Santa catchment, Cordillera Blanca, Peru, 2019-2020
Clason, C. C. (Creator), Kitch, J. (Creator), Rangecroft, S. (Creator), Blake, W. (Creator), Morera, S. (Creator), Contreras Acho, S. G. (Creator) & Clason, C. C. (Contributor), NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre, 5 Nov 2024
DOI: 10.5285/20837a27-414c-4597-a6d2-3edc1d2e9a98, https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/20837a27-414c-4597-a6d2-3edc1d2e9a98
Dataset
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Data associated with 'Rowney et al. (2022). Ecological consequences of historic moorland ‘improvement’. Biodiversity and Conservation'
Rowney, F. (Creator), Fyfe, R. (Creator), Anderson, P. (Creator), Barnett, R. (Creator), Blake, W. (Creator), Daley, T. (Creator), Head, K. (Creator), MacLeod, A. (Creator), Matthews, I. (Creator) & Smith, D. (Creator), University of Plymouth, 1 Feb 2023
DOI: 10.24382/5033, https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/fose-datasets/article/1023/type/native/viewcontent/Rowneyetal_2022_RicksyBall_Exmoor_Data.xls
Dataset
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Radioisotope concentrations of soil samples from UK saltmarshes collected between 2018 and 2021
Koot, M. B. (Creator), Blake, W. (Creator), Havelock, G. M. (Creator), Garrett, E. (Creator), Smeaton, C. (Creator), Barlow, N. L. M. (Creator), Gehrels, W. R. (Creator) & Smeaton, C. (Contributor), NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre, 29 Oct 2024
DOI: 10.5285/a85756f9-2685-4ec4-ac44-3210425ba70e, https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/a85756f9-2685-4ec4-ac44-3210425ba70e
Dataset
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Dataset for paper pair 'Soil erosion and sediment transport in Tanzania'
Wynants, M. (Creator), Aloyce, P. (Creator), Munishi, L. (Creator), Mtei, K. (Creator), Bodé, S. (Creator), Taylor, A. (Creator), Millward, G. (Creator), Roberts, N. (Creator), Gilvear, D. (Creator), Ndakidemi, P. (Creator), Boeckx, P. (Creator) & Blake, W. (Creator), University of Plymouth, 1 May 2021
DOI: 10.24382/9xmf-7e88, https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/fose-datasets/article/1019/type/native/viewcontent/Part_I.zip
Dataset
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