Professor Caroline Peacock

Profile

Awards

• Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award 2018-2024. 
• University of Leeds Women of Achievement Award 2016, for outstanding research achievement.
• European Association of Geochemistry Houtermans Award 2015, awarded to an early career researcher for an exceptional contribution to geochemistry.

Current Major Funding

• Leverhulme Reserach Fellowship 2023 – 2025: Bottom-up controls on ocean micronutrients (PI)
• NERC Large Grant 2019 - 2024: Locked Up: The role of biotic and abiotic interactions in the stabilisation and persistence of soil organic carbon (Leeds PI)
• European Research Council Consolidator Grant 2017 - 2023: MinOrg: The role of minerals in the oceanic carbon cycle (PI)
• Royal Society Newton Advance Fellowship 2019 - 2023: MicroOrg: Stability and persistence of microbial exudates with soil and sediment minerals (PI)

 

Responsibilities

• Cohen Geochemistry Labs, Academic Lead
• Aqueous Analysis Facility, Academic Lead

Research interests

I am an experimental biogeochemist with a focus on the application of fundamental chemical principles to understand Earth system processes. In particular I focus on the reactivity and cycling of elements in both the marine and terrestrial environments, and how elemental mobility and fate are controlled through interactions with sediment and soil minerals, and the interplay between mineralogical and microbiological processes. These interactions ultimately help control the abundance and distribution of elements in modern and ancient environments, and a detailed understanding of these phenomena is therefore vital to help elucidate the links between the geological, chemical and biological components of our planet, and how these components combine to regulate the Earth system. 

My group combines laboratory experiments, cutting-edge synchrotron techniques, and advanced computational and geochemical modelling, to provide detailed information on the interactions between carbon, macro- and micro-nutrients and contaminants in sediments and soils. Broadly I am interested in:

• Biogeochemical cycling of carbon, macro- and micro-nutrients in sediments and soils
• Biogeochemical palaeoproxies based on elemental concentrations and stable isotope compositions recorded in geological deposits
• Mineral interfaces and interfacial processes

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) Environmental Geoscience, University of Bristol
• PhD Geochemistry, University of Bristol

Professional memberships

• Natural Environment Research Council, Advisory Network
• Natural Environment Research Council, Peer Review College
• Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Editorial Board
• Geochemical Transactions, Editorial Board
• European Association of Geochemistry, Member
• Geochemical Society, Member
• Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland, Member
• Higher Education Academy, Fellow

Research groups and institutes

• Earth Surface Science Institute
• Cohen Geochemistry
• water@leeds
• Palaeo@Leeds

Current postgraduate researchers

• Lena Chen

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>