About the Project
Project Details
Background, Aims and Methods
As the second longest river in the UK, flowing through the country’s capital city out to the North Sea, the Thames River and Estuary is exposed to many pressures along its path. It is the busiest inland waterway, surrounded by large developments including homes for over 15 million people, two large container ports, struggling sewage infrastructure, major road networks and impacts from agriculture. Despite this, the Thames catchment is a nursery ground for many commercial fish species and home to iconic species including water voles, otters, kingfishers, eels, seahorses, sharks and seals. These species exist due to the many and varied Thames habitats, with reed beds, freshwater wetlands, seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and native oyster reef, found along its length. However, these habitats are degraded and fragmented and with their loss we lose the biodiversity and ecosystem services these habitats provide. Much habitat restoration and recovery work is planned for freshwater, estuarine and coastal habitats across the Thames to help protect the area and its people from the impacts of climate change, but poor water quality is thought to be a major barrier to the success of these projects.
Water Framework Directive and River Basin Management plans show clear evidence that water pollution exists across the Thames catchment from source to sea. However, there is very little understanding of the source apportionment of the various pollutants and their ecological impact on estuarine habitats. This PhD project would examine the key sources of pollution and the resulting ecological impacts (e.g. algal mats smothering protected seagrass habitat, weakened root systems in saltmarsh plants, habitat degradation by plastic debris), the impact of current mitigation strategies (such as nutrient neutrality and nutrient vulnerable zones) and the investigation of alternative approaches and the knock-on social impacts, such as loss of income and reduced wellbeing.
In order to ensure co-creation of the project with the partners, the student will be supported in developing the project structure in the early stages. Examples of research techniques that could be used include water and sediment sampling, eDNA, biodiversity assessments, stable isotope analysis, citizen science, hydrological numerical modelling, and stakeholder surveys.
The project is supervised by a multidisciplinary team from the University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation (CEC) and Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW), and the Zoological Society of London. The successful candidate will be based at the CEC on the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus in Cornwall with regular visits to the London area for fieldwork and knowledge exchange with colleagues at ZSL and other local partners.
Funding Notes
For eligible successful applicants, the studentships comprises:
4 years of stipend funding at the UKRI rate (currently £20,780 for 2025/26)
Funding for tuition fees the Home fee rate
A research training support grant (up to £4,000 per annum for project costs)
The opportunity to undertake a placement of up to 6 months (in total) during the 4-year PhD programme (with access to additional funding of up to £2,500 to support placement costs).
Access to mentoring support (specific to this studentship scheme)
