Professor Will Mayes

Professor Will Mayes

Environmental Science

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • School of Environmental Sciences

Summary

Will teaches across the Environmental Science, Geography and MSc Environmental Change, Monitoring and Management programmes. He is passionate about field and practical-based teaching to help us understand and manage the environmental issues we currently face. His research investigates how we can improve management of environmental legacies from some of the most carbon-intensive and polluting sectors of our economies.

Will teaches across Environmental Science, Geography and MSc in ECMM programmes. Key modules include:

- Introduction to Environmental Science (Level 4)

- Frontiers in Environmental Science (Level 5)

- Environmental Pollution (Level 6)

I also contribute to the following modules:

- Exploring Worlds Around Us (Level 4)

- Interpreting Environments (Level 4)

- Frontiers in Physical Geography (Level 5)

- Field Studies (Level 6)

- Environmental Impact Assessment and Monitoring (Level 6)

- Geography and Environmental Science Dissertation (Level 6)

- Sustainable Earth Resources (Level 7)

- ECMM dissertation (Level 7)

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

PFAS River Export Analysis Highlights the Urgent Need for Catchment-Scale Mass Loading Data

Byrne, P., Mayes, W. M., James, A. L., Comber, S., Biles, E., Riley, A., & Runkel, R. L. (in press). PFAS River Export Analysis Highlights the Urgent Need for Catchment-Scale Mass Loading Data. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00017

Ikaite formation in streams affected by steel waste leachate: First report and potential impact on contaminant dynamics

Bastianini, L., Rogerson, M., Brasier, A., Prior, T. J., Hardman, K., Dempsey, E., …Mayes, W. M. (2024). Ikaite formation in streams affected by steel waste leachate: First report and potential impact on contaminant dynamics. Chemical Geology, 644, Article 121842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121842

Antimony and arsenic behaviour in lead/zinc mine tailings during storage under vegetation cover

Burke, I. T., Courtney, R., & Mayes, W. M. (2023). Antimony and arsenic behaviour in lead/zinc mine tailings during storage under vegetation cover. Applied geochemistry : journal of the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, 158, Article 105806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2023.105806

Quantifying CO2 Removal at Enhanced Weathering Sites: a Multiproxy Approach

Knapp, W. J., Stevenson, E. I., Renforth, P., Ascough, P. L., Knight, A. C., Bridgestock, L., …Tipper, E. T. (2023). Quantifying CO2 Removal at Enhanced Weathering Sites: a Multiproxy Approach. Environmental Science and Technology, 57(26), 9854-9864. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c03757

Mixtures of sediment chemical contaminants at freshwater sampling sites across Europe with different contaminant burdens

Richardson, S., Mayes, W. M., Faetsch, S., Hetjens, H., Teuchies, J., Walker, P., …Heise, S. (2023). Mixtures of sediment chemical contaminants at freshwater sampling sites across Europe with different contaminant burdens. The Science of the total environment, 891, Article 164280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164280

Research interests

Current and recent research projects are listed below and include:

- Legacy Wastes in the Coastal Zone (NERC)

- Resource Recovery and Remediation of Alkaline Wastes (NERC / Defra / ESRC)

- Greenhouse Gas Removal in the Iron and Steel Industry (NERC); led by Phil Renforth (Heriott Watt)

- Impact of an extreme rainfall event on solute and sediment dynamics in a mineralised river system (NERC); led by Adam Jarvis (Newcastle)

For more details follow the link to my ORCID record on the top right of this page.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Legacy wastes in the coastal zone: environmental risks and management futures

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£302,489.00

Started

6 January 2020

Status

Ongoing

Project

Accelerated Supergene Processes in Repository Engineering

Funder

EPSRC Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Grant

£18,120.00

Started

1 March 2021

Status

Ongoing

Project

StormFlux: Effect of Storm Babet on Pollution Fluxes from Remobilised Mine Wastes

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£19,603.00

Started

31 January 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Greenhouse Gas removal in the Iron and Steel Industry

Funder

Cardiff University

Grant

£19,726.00

Started

1 September 2017

Status

Complete

Project

Resource recovery and remediation of alkaline wastes

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£774,884.00

Started

31 August 2014

Status

Complete

Project

Impact of an extreme rainfall event on solute and sediment dynamics in a mineralised river system

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£3,374.00

Started

1 March 2016

Status

Complete

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Interreg - Sullied Sediments

Funder

EC European Commission

Grant

£279,657.00

Started

1 January 2017

Status

Complete

Project

ECPE PPF: To investigate a plastic free alternative to single use plastic sacks for co-mingled recyclate reflecting technical, social economic and environmental constraints

Funder

EPSRC Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Grant

£18,900.00

Started

1 January 2020

Status

Complete

Project

Digital resources for practical learning in the GEES disciplines

Funder

EC European Commission

Grant

£54,757.00

Started

1 June 2021

Status

Complete

Project

nutrient analysis on Winestead Drain (EA partnership)

Funder

Environment Agency

Grant

£8,794.00

Started

25 January 2022

Status

Complete

Project

NERC Discipline Hopping - Bridging the gap from waste to novel materials

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£3,997.00

Started

1 March 2022

Status

Complete

Project

nutrient analysis on Winestead Drain (EA partnership) 2

Funder

Environment Agency

Grant

£19,972.00

Started

1 September 2022

Status

Complete

Project

Citizen-led pre-concentration and analysis of water pollution at the point-of-need

Funder

Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund

Grant

£1,600.00

Started

4 June 2018

Status

Complete

Project

Evolving a Circular Plastics Economy

Funder

EPSRC Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Grant

£938,304.00

Started

1 January 2019

Status

Complete

Postgraduate supervision

Completed PhDs

Victor Uchenna Oty (PhD, 2012-2016): Remediation of hyperalkaline industrial drainage, University of Hull international bursary, field support costs from Tata Steel.

Ashley Jones (PhD, 2010-2014): Solute dynamics in mine-impacted streams, funded by University of Hull.

Helen Baxter (PhD, 2011-2015): Integrating Payments for Environmental Services with LCA at abandoned mine remediation schemes, funded by University of Hull.

Riina Vaht (PhD, 2009-2012, completed): Impact of oil shale mining on hydrological regime, co-supervisor with Prof. Mander, University of Tartu, Estonia.

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