I graduated in 2020 from the University of Cambridge, achieving a first in Natural Sciences (MSci and BA), having specialised in Earth Sciences, and received a St. John’s College Prize and United Steel Companies Scholarship for my performance in my final year. My Part III (fourth year) project investigated the factors controlling bulk chemical trends in suspended sediment from the Khosi river basin in Nepal. This involved a three-week fieldwork campaign of white water rafting and sampling, and then combined experimental work using X-Ray Diffraction, QEMSCAN and an electron microprobe with mathematical modelling to determine which processes determined the changing downstream composition of the samples. In addition to this work, over the summer holiday at the end of my third year, I carried out a six-week internship in the department clean labs, running a sequential acid leaching procedure on sediments from the Irrawaddy and Salween rivers, before preparing lithium borate pellets for bulk chemical analysis of the samples.
Current Research
My DPhil research will focus on the processes which control isotopic fractionation – with the aim to develop a mechanistic understanding of the fractionation of lithium isotopes during chemical weathering. Experimental studies of partition coefficients, site specific fractionation factors and adsorption and desorption will be combined with mass spectrometry, synchrotron work and modelling to further our knowledge of the release, transport, and isotopic composition of trace elements in the environment.
