Lancaster Environment Centre

Maria Fernanda is an enthusiastic, experienced, self-motivated and energetic person with a strong scientific background that splits out between civil engineering, agriculture and environment science.

Fernanda's career started in 1994 when she joined the Laboratory of Analysis of Soils and Waters at the Agricultural Engineering College (University of León, Spain). Her main duties were the study of fertility of agricultural soils, mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, irrigation water quality and crop nutrition. In addition she worked with crop production, cereals, sugar beet, maize, and vineyards.

In 1998 Fernanda developed her work at the Natural Resource Institute of the University of León as research associate where she was working in different projects about recycling and reuse of manures, and organic waste, biosolids in agricultural and forests soils. Her studies concentrate on the mineralization and dynamics of nutrients, minimize diffuse pollution and contamination of agricultural soils by heavy metals. At the same time she collaborates with government and companies giving advice about the use of biosolids and organic waste in soils. Also she takes part in composting waste treatment and energy from waste projects, focussed in intermediate and fast pyrolysis treatments using sewage sludge and use char as adsorbents to clean water with high levels of heavy metals. Some of the projects were:

• Sewage Sludge Management: Use of sewage sludge in agriculture. Adsorbents production. F.E.D.E.R. Project nº IFD97-0394_C02_01
• Sewage Sludge Use in Agriculture; studying use of biosolids in agricultural soils as fertilisers for crop production and their environmental effects. KRAFT Foods Co

In 2003 Fernanda moved to the UK to work with ADAS as an environmental soil scientist. She worked in different projects funded by DEFRA on ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from manures and slurry stores. Some of the most important emission projects that she worked at were:

• MAVIS: Measuring the effects of rapid incorporation of solids manures on emissions of ammonia and nitrous oxide and modelling impact on nitrate leaching.
• NARSES: National Ammonia Reduction Strategy Evaluation System

Fernanda has been involved in the implementation report of the Nitrates Directive in Member States and in the EU Report about the current situation of nitrate contamination of waters in Mediterranean countries.

In 2006 Fernanda started work with the Hydrogeological group at the University of Birmingham as part of the ‘SWITCH’ project (Sustainable Water management Improves Tomorrow’s Cities’ Health). This new job permitted Fernanda to acquire new skills in urban and microbiological contamination. The projects she worked on were:

• Chemical contamination from human sources in the hypohreic zone of the River Tame (Birmingham)

The aim of the project was to develop an understanding of the dynamic behaviour of contaminant fluxes across hyporheic zones (zones immediately below rivers where water exchanges occur), and in particular to confirm the spatial and temporal distribution of attenuation capacity so that appropriate decisions can be made with regard to protection of surface waters from discharging polluted groundwaters.

• Transport pathways for viruses in a sandstone aquifer

The aim of this project is to determine the mechanisms controlling the natural attenuation of virus particles in an example matrix-flow dominated aquifer.

Since September 2009 Fernanda’s current position is one of the Senior Innovation Associates in the UK-China bridge project at Lancaster Environmental Centre (Lancaster University). Her current research focus on minimise the risk arising from the use of organic waste, biosolids and wastewater in agriculture. She also works in generation of energy from wastes.

She is the coordinator of Lancaster Biochar Group, launched in December 2009 with the main objectives of coordinating research in this area between LEC and CEH and to lead UK research in biochar and biocoal applications in soils.