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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)

- Living in the Anthropocene (Level 5)

- Environmental Pollution (Level 6)

I also contribute to the following modules:

- Exploring Worlds Around Us (Level 4)

- Interpreting Environments (Level 4)

- Field Studies (Level 5)

- Frontiers in Environmental Science (Level 5)

- Environmental Impact Assessment (Level 6)

- Geography and Environmental Science Dissertation (Level 6)

- ECMM dissertation (Level 7)

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Dataset

Prioritised Coastal Legacy Waste Dataset (England and Wales)

Riley, A., Amezaga, J., Burke, I., Byrne, P., Cooper, N., Crane, R., …Jarvis, A. (2022). Prioritised Coastal Legacy Waste Dataset (England and Wales). [Dataset]

Journal Article

Pollutant accumulation in road mitigation tunnels for amphibians: A multisite comparison on an ignored but important issue

White, K. J., Mayes, W., & Petrovan, S. O. (2023). Pollutant accumulation in road mitigation tunnels for amphibians: A multisite comparison on an ignored but important issue. Frontiers in ecology and evolution, 11, Article 1133253. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1133253

Circular economy landfills for temporary storage and treatment of mineral-rich wastes

Sapsford, D. J., Stewart, D. I., Sinnett, D. E., Burke, I. T., Cleall, P. J., Harbottle, M. J., …Weightman, A. (2023). Circular economy landfills for temporary storage and treatment of mineral-rich wastes. Proceedings of the ICE - Waste and Resource Management, 176(2), 77-93. https://doi.org/10.1680/jwarm.22.00008

Incorporating conceptual site models into national-scale environmental risk assessments for legacy waste in the coastal zone

Riley, A. L., Amezaga, J., Burke, I. T., Burke, I., Byrne, P., Cooper, N., …Jarvis, A. (2022). Incorporating conceptual site models into national-scale environmental risk assessments for legacy waste in the coastal zone. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, Article 1045482. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.1045482

Methanogenesis from Mineral Carbonates, a Potential Indicator for Life on Mars

Wormald, R. M., Hopwood, J., Humphreys, P. N., Mayes, W., Gomes, H. I., & Rout, S. P. (2022). Methanogenesis from Mineral Carbonates, a Potential Indicator for Life on Mars. Geosciences, 12(3), Article 138. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12030138

Research interests

Current and recent research projects include:

- Legacy Wastes in the Coastal Zone (NERC) - see http://gotw.nerc.ac.uk/list_full.asp?pcode=NE%2FT003022%2F1

- Resource Recovery and Remediation of Alkaline Wastes (NERC / Defra / ESRC) - see https://alkalineremediation.wordpress.com/

- Greenhouse Gas Removal in the Iron and Steel Industry (NERC); led by Phil Renforth (Heriott Watt): http://gotw.nerc.ac.uk/list_full.asp?pcode=NE%2FP019943%2F1

- Impact of an extreme rainfall event on solute and sediment dynamics in a mineralised river system (NERC); led by Adam Jarvis (Newcastle): http://gotw.nerc.ac.uk/list_full.asp?pcode=NE%2FP000053%2F1

For more details follow the link here:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1864-9057

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

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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