My Research
Hi 👋, I’m Sam - an environmental modeller and self-proclaimed research software engineer at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Lancaster, with a background in quantum physics and software development. My main specialism is in the development of emissions, fate and exposure models of potential pollutants in soils and surface waters, including micro- and nanoplastics, pharmaceuticals, PFAS and nanomaterials. This work lays the foundation for environmental risk and impact assessment, helping us understand the chemical drivers of environmental change. Through this, I am particularly interested in integrating models to better quantify these impacts and provide deeper insight into human-environment interactions.
My work also extends into the realms of digital research, including software engineering, data science and AI. I use expertise across digital research and environmental science to empower environmental modellers to develop better models by leveraging modern digital research paradigms. This includes research into how contemporary software architecturesm, such as microservices, can support the development of environmental models that are more FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reproducible). I lead community initiatives to support this vision, connecting researchers across the globe who share the goal of advancing the next generation of environmental modelling. Ultimately, I am motivated by ensuring our models are capable of meeting future needs, including the need to rapidly generate policy-relevant knowledge and decisions at the pace demanded by accelerating environmental change.
I am a keen advocate of, creator of and contributor to open source software and open science. I am a Fellow of the Software Sustainability Institute and an active member of communities such as CSDMS, CEEDS, OMF, iEMSs and SETAC. I am an experienced project leader and frequent contributor to session chairing, workshop coordination and educational resources.
In my free time, I can usually be found running, walking, climbing, cycling or skiing in the hills and mountains of the UK and further afield. I am a qualified winter mountain leader and have previously worked as a freelance outdoor instructor.
My Projects
Below is a selection of some of the key projects that I have been or am currently involved in.
All Projects
FRAGMENT-ARTICLE
January 2026 to December 2027In this project, we are further developing the FRAGMENT-MNP model to be able to model the degradation and fragmentation of plastic articles with different formulations. Our partners, Fraunhofer IME and BASF, will undertake degradation experiments in soils and ocean water, and these data will enable us to parameterise the FRAGMENT-MNP model to predict fragmentation under environmentally realistic conditions.
Biodegradable Polymers
October 2024 to August 2026Funded by BASF, this project aims to explore the degradation of biodegradable polymers. We are using the FRAGMENT-MNP model to predict the timescales over which biodegradable polymers break part into fragments and then fully mineralise to CO2 in soils.
Defra: costing intentionally added microplastics
December 2023 to December 2024In this Defra-funded project, we are seeking to evaluate and cost the environmental and economic impact of various mitigation options to prevent pollution from intentionally added microplastics. I am leading aspects on the assessment of environmental emissions and exposure.
EMIFACT-MNP
January 2023 to June 2025The goal of EMIFACT-MNP is to develop a model of Micro and Nanoplastic EMIssion FACTors in Europe. Quantifying emissions of plastics to the environment is crucial to be able to make accurate fate and exposure predictions. In this project, we are using probabilistic material flow analysis approaches alongside knowledge on microplastic degradation and fragmentation, to be able to predict size-distributed emissions of a broad range of polymers across their whole lifecycle.
DEPICTION
October 2022 to September 2025The DEPICTION project is developing in international community of practice to advance open and FAIR environmental modelling. I lead the project, which is funded by NERC’s Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund and is a new collaboration between UKCEH, CSDMS (University of Colorado Boulder), the Netherlands eScience Center, TU Delft, Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The strength offered by this united international community of software tools, standards and practices will be showcased through a case study of source-to-sea microplastic fate, coupling together existing hydrological, chemical fate and coastal ocean models.
ETERNAL
September 2022 to August 2026The aim of this EU Horizon Europe project is to reduce the environmental impact of pharmaceutical products throughout their life cycle. I lead a workpackage that is assessing the environmental risk posed by commonly used pharmaceuticals, including how product and process modifications investigated in the project will reduce this risk.
FRAGMENT-MNP
October 2021 to September 2023I led this project, funded by the European Chemical Industry Council’s Long-Range Research Initiative (Cefic-LRI), to develop a mechanistic model of micro- and nanoplastic fragmentation in the environment. The model is a pragmatic, open-source tool to allow stakeholders to predict how a broad variety of polymers fragment under environmentally realistic ranges of degradation (e.g. photolysis, hydrolysis and biodegradation) and mechanical stresses. Understanding fragmentation is crucial in risk assessing plastics, due to the differential uptake and transport of different sized plastic particles.
NanoFASE
August 2015 to September 2019The goal of this €11m European Commission Horizon 2020 project was to develop an exposure assessment framework for engineered nanomaterials. Central to this was the creation of a multimedia spatiotemporal model of nanomaterial fate and speciation in the environment, which I was responsible for developing. The so-called NanoFASE model (Nanomaterial Fate And Speciation in the Environment) represents not only the state-of-the-art in nanomaterial exposure modelling, but alse one of the more advanced exposure models in existence, offering predictions of nanomaterial concentrations with spatiotemporal resolution across terrestrial and aquatic environments. The project finished in 2019, but we are continuing to develop the model in other nano-related projects, as well as extending its domain to other chemicals.
Skills and Interests
Committees and Memberships
- Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)
- Society of Research Software Engineering (SocRSE)
- OECD Working Party of Manufactured Nanomaterials
- NanoSafety Cluster Working Group C - Exposure and Hazard Assessment
- Software Sustainability Institute Fellow
- NERC Constructing a Digital Environment Expert Network
- Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science (CEEDS)
- Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS)
- Open Modeling Foundation (OMF)
- International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs)