Fitzsimons, Mark - Plymouth University - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Chemistry

个人简介

I grew up by the sea in County Down, Ireland, and loved Chemistry at school; this led me to search for a university degree programme that could combine the two. I graduated in BSc (Hons) in Chemistry with Oceanography from the University of Liverpool, UK, and remained there to continue my PhD research under the supervision of Professor George Wolff (Thesis title: "The Geochemistry of the Methylamines in Recent Marine and Lacustrine Sediments") in the Environmental Organic Chemistry and Geochemistry Group. I then moved to the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom and worked with Professor Paul Dando on a pan-European project studying the biogeochemistry of hydrothermal, geothermal and cold seep ecosystems. In 1995, I joined Middlesex University as a Lecturer in Environmental Chemistry and renewed my interest in the biogeochemistry of organic nitrogen. I taught Environmental Organic Chemistry at undergraduate and masters level and was Programme Manager for MSc Water Pollution Control. Other pedagogic activities included writing a distance learning module on physico-chemistry and water quality modelling for an MSc Integrated Pollution Control (Hong Kong Baptist University), and developing a transferable skills module for first year undergraduates. I joined the University of Plymouth in 2001, as a member of the Petroleum and Environmental Geochemistry Group (PEGG), led by Professor Steve Rowland (now part of the Biogeochemistry Research Centre). As a member of the Centre for Chemical Sciences, I both teach on and manage the BSc (Hons) Chemistry programme. I have continued to pursue my research interests in the marine organic nitrogen cycle, with projects funded by the NERC, EU, Leverhulme Trust and the Environment Agency for England and Wales (see research interests).

研究领域

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth. However, a considerable increase in the industrial production of nitrogen during the 20th century (rising from ~15 Tg* of nitrogen in 1860 to 186 Tg in 2005), and its global use in artificial fertilizers, means that it is now present at excessively high concentrations in many coastal and inland waters. This has led to a host of water quality problems, including excess plant growth, harmful algal blooms and increased water treatment costs. Although drinking water is a liquid, natural waters are a complex mixture of liquid water, particles and living and dead organisms. These components of water all affect how nitrogen reacts in rivers and estuaries, and how much reaches the open sea. My recent research has looked at how this mixture affects nitrogen concentrations in water, particularly the little understood organic nitrogen fraction. Human inputs are also very important and I am interested in understanding how routine activities such as dredging and sewage effluent discharge influence nitrogen concentrations, as well the predicted changed weather patterns associated with climate change.

近期论文

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Tappin A.D., McCarthy A.J., Loughnane P and Fitzsimons M.F. 2016. Unexpected removal of the mostneutral cationic pharmaceutical in river waters. Environmental Chemistry Letters 14, 455-465. doi: 10.1007/s10311-016-0582-2 Lees K., Fitzsimons M. Snape J., Tappin A., Comber S. 2016. Pharmaceuticals in soils of lower incomecountries: physico-chemical fate and risks from wastewater irrigation. Environment International 94, 712-723. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2016.06.018 Tappin A.D., McCarthy A.J., Loughnane P and Fitzsimons M.F. Bacterio-plankton transformation of diazepam and 2-amino-5-chlorobenzophenone in river waters. Environmental Science : Processes & Impacts 16, 2227-2236. doi: 10.1039/C4EM00306C Tappin A.D., McCarthy A.J., Loughnane P and Fitzsimons M.F. 2012 Removal of atrazine from river waters by indigenous microorganisms. Environmental Chemistry Letters 10, 89-96. doi: 10.1007/s10311-011-0332-4 Fitzsimons M.F., Lohan M., Millward G.E. and Tappin A.D. 2011. The role of suspended particles in Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science; Volume 4, Geochemistry of Estuaries and Coasts (G. Shimmield, ed.). Elsevier. pp 71-114. ISBN: 978-0-08-087885-0 Ussher S.J., Manning A.D., Tappin A.D. and Fitzsimons M.F. 2011.. Observed dissolved and particulate nitrogen concentrations in a mini flume. Hydrobiologia 672, 69-77. doi 10.1007/s10750-011-0759-4 Tappin A.D., Millward G.E. and Fitzsimons M.F. 2010. Particle-Water Interactions of Organic Nitrogen in Turbid Estuaries. Marine Chemistry. 122, 28-38. Leakey C.D.B., Attrill M.J., Fitzsimons M.F. 2009. Multi-element otolith chemistry of juvenile sole (Solea solea), whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in the Thames Estuary and adjacent coastal regions. Journal of Sea Research. 61, 268-274. doi:10.1016/j.seares.2008.12.002 Rees A.P., Hope S.B., Widdicombe C.E., Dixon J.L., Fitzsimons M.F., Woodward E.M.S. 2009. High summertime rainfall-induced elevations of Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in the western English Channel. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science: 81, 569–574. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2008.12.005 (click here for news story) Curtis-Jackson, P.K., Massé G., Gledhill M., Fitzsimons M.F. 2009. Characterisation of low molecular weight dissolved organic nitrogen by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 7, 52-63.