Queen's University, Belfast
Current Position | Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering |
Previous Position | Chartered Engineer |
Telephone | +44 (0) 2890974152 |
s.cox@qub.ac.uk | |
Departments | School of Natural and Built Environment |
ECR | No |
Quadrat Core Themes | Earth Systems, Environmental Management |
Methods I Use | Bio / Geo / Chemical Analytical, Omics and Informatics |
Profiles |
Key Research Interests
- Risk assessment of contaminated sites (including human health risk assessment, the use of bioaccessibility testing and differentiating between geogenic and anthropogenic sources of contamination). I have a particular interest in Ni and Cr, but have also applied these techniques to other elements.
- Using multivariate statistics to data-mine existing geochemical datasets. Linking potential sources of contamination to potential health effects.
- Environmental assessment, including life cycle assessment. Most recently I have applied this to assessing impacts of novel concrete products, but a wide range of potential applications exist.
- Remediation of carbon disulphide soil and groundwater contamination.
Recent Key Papers
- Mehta, N., Cocerva, T., Cipullo, S., Padoan, E., Dino, G. A., Ajmone-Marsan, F., Cox, S. F., Coulon, F. & De Luca, D. A. “Linking oral bioaccessibility and solid phase distribution of potentially toxic elements in extractive waste and soil from an abandoned mine site: Case study in Campello Monti, NW Italy” (15 Feb 2019). Science of the Total Environment 651:2799-2810.
- McIlwaine, R., Doherty, R., Cox, S. F. & Cave, M., “The relationship between historical development and potentially toxic element concentrations in urban soils” (Jan 2017). Environmental Pollution 220:1036-1049.
- McGrath, T., Cox, S., Soutsos, M., Kong, D., Lim, P. M. & Alengaram, U. J. “Life cycle assessment of geopolymer concrete: A Malaysian context.” (15 Apr 2018). CONCET 2018 14th International Conference on Concrete Engineering and Technology: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. IOP PUBLISHING LTD.
Summary Title of Current Studentships
- Current: Tatiana Cocerva: Investigation of how oral bioaccessibility of heavy potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in urban areas is affected by contaminant source.
- Recently completed: Rebekka McIlwaine: Sources, concentrations and extractability of potentially toxic elements (including lead, nickel, chromium and arsenic) in soil. Sherry Palmer: Oral bioaccessibility of potentially toxic trace elements in soil.