Kate Spencer

Map of parts of the UK with potential for fracking exploration (British Geological Survey). There's a current pause on fracking in the UK & the government is considering making it illegal. Reform, however, have pledged to license fracking if elected.

nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/51...

‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

Evidence for large-scale #microplastic pollution of the human body is pretty weak. Biological pathways are implausible and analytical protocols still under development. But this doesn’t address the media’s role in hyping claims - often ignoring research caveats www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Still a few days to submit your abstract to #EGU26. Join our session if you work at the intersection of pollution and climate change

If you didn’t catch their reporting first time around - @watershed-i.bsky.social have done some really comprehensive and eye opening work mapping Europe’s waste sites. @qmulsse.bsky.social

This is exactly the problem. The legislation requiring this engineering design came in much later

Depressing - yet absolutely fascinating and it amazes us how many people come to rummage through the waste. They’re our #futurefossils

Fortunately wave action disperses the material but it’s still released into the marine environment

Watch this space - important work on this about to be released by Defra…we proposed methods to prioritise sites back in 2018 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Come to Birmingham and do a PhD with myself and @wvschaik.bsky.social!

Join @profkatespencer.bsky.social, John MacDonald & I in Vienna at @egu.eu for our session on Chemicals and Climate Change where we want to consolidate our knowledge on how changes in hydrology & hydrodynamics will impact future contaminant mobility
@egu-gm.bsky.social ⬇️
www.egu26.eu/session/56805

Plastic pollution could linger at ocean surfaces for over a century, new research finds Scientists from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London have developed a simple model to show how buoyant plastic can settle through the water column and they predict it could take over 100 years to remove plastic waste from the ocean's surface.

Modeling indicates that buoyant plastic can persist at the ocean surface for over a century, gradually fragmenting and sinking, with long-term impacts on marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. doi.org/g97r6d

Coupling fragmentation to a size-selective sedimentation model can quantify the long-term fate of buoyant plastics in the ocean | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physi... Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global environmental issue, with buoyant debris accumulating at the surface and posing long-term ecological threats. Although sediments are the ultimate sink for pl...

[1/8] DEs chercheurs de l'Université Queen Mary de Londres présentent un modèle inédit pour comprendre le destin des plastiques flottants. Leur étude relie la fragmentation en microplastiques et leur lente descente vers les fonds marins. #geography #ocean #pollution #plastic

Scientists have puzzled over what happens to plastic as it breaks down in the ocean – our new study helps explain the mystery Some plastic pollution lingers at the ocean’s surface for more than a century.

[1/8] Kate Spencer et Nan Wu (Queen Mary University of London) étudient le devenir des plastiques dans l’océan. Leur modèle explique le mystère du "plastique manquant" en montrant comment il migre lentement vers les grands fonds. #geography #pollution #microplastics #ocean

UK and Europe’s hidden landfills at risk of leaking toxic waste into water supplies Exclusive: Rising flood risks driven by climate change could release toxic waste from ageing sites – posing threats to ecosystems

UK and Europe’s hidden landfills at risk of leaking toxic waste into water supplies

- Rising flood risks driven by climate change could release chemicals from ageing sites – posing threats to ecosystems

Story by @leanahosea.bsky.social and Juliet Ferguson
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It’s not just flood risks - drought and wildfire could damage structural integrity and rising temp can change pollutant uptake and mobility

@qmul.bsky.social @qmgeogsoc.bsky.social @qmulsse.bsky.social @emmahardymp.bsky.social @earlrussell.bsky.social @thecccuk.bsky.social

1000s of historic landfills across Europe - many in groundwater protection zones and highly vulnerable to flooding and erosion. We are just not adequately assessing the potential risks of climate change on our waste legacy.

ITV News, Martin Stew, 'Potential leaks from thousands of landfills threaten Europe's water and wildlife'

Watch @itvnews.bsky.social tonight, as Martin Stew covers our joint report with @investigate-europe.eu on pollution from landfills in the UK + Europe - many so old they're not lined or filtered - in flood risk, coastal erosion or drinking water protection zones.

www.itv.com/news/2025-12...

@margaretmullanemp.bsky.social @earlrussell.bsky.social @leanahosea.bsky.social @watershed-i.bsky.social

At least 8,000 illegal waste sites in UK, research suggests Exclusive: Concerns over impact on health and environment, as well as £1.63bn in avoided landfill tax

Not only do these waste criminals avoid landfill tax, but they are also avoiding all the checks and balances that protect people and the environment from the pollutants it contains.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We certainly have the tools to deal with many of these issues. But the scale of the problem is overwhelming and we just don't have the resources to monitor, regulate and, if needed, remediate all of these sites. We also don't value the lived experience of those of have to live alongside these dumps.

This is pretty unbelievable - I really thought landfill leachate was better managed.

Entomologist, wearing protective clothing, excavates the nest of a social wasp.

Does anyone in the South of England have a wasp nest in their garden they would wish removed anytime in the next five weeks? This research led by Dr Bob Brown @dr-bob-brown.bsky.social, is helping with control of invasive wasps in New Zealand.

Understanding environmental impacts of plastic requires a palaeontological lens - Nature Ecology & Evolution Growing evidence suggests that timescales for plastic degradation have been vastly underestimated. The fossil record of plastic-like biopolymers might provide a perspective on plastic fossilization in...

Under the right conditions - such as landfills - plastics could take millennia to degrade. Potentially forming future ‘techno fossils’. Fascinating read from Sarah Gabbot.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A figure from the review paper listing methods for assessing plastic biodegradation. They are grouped into three clusters: physical changes, chemical changes, and products produced/consumed.

How can we assess whether microbial degradation of plastic pollution has occurred? Our new systematic review, led by Jennifer Scott, assesses a multitude of methods & makes recommendations to improve study design @heriotwattuni.bsky.social
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0048-9697(25)01917-5

Exposure to some common Pfas changes gene activity, new study finds Findings help decipher mechanisms through which ‘forever chemicals’ cause disease, aiding in treating health problems

What a mess we have made of this #PoisonedPlanet, and #PublicHealth.

"Research found connections among Pfas-related gene changes and biological pathways involved in leukemia, bladder, liver, thyroid and breast cancers, Alzheimer’s, lupus, asthma & tuberculosis"

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Arctic glaciers face ‘terminal’ decline as microbes accelerate ice melt Scientists in Svalbard in race to study polar microbes as global heating threatens fragile glacial ecosystems

We're just starting to understand the #biodiversity we are fast trashing.

"Cryoconite granules - frozen rainforests”. Each is a self-sustaining ecosystem, containing diverse bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists & even tiny animals like tardigrades & worms"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Are you ready for a leadership role where science meets impact?
If you see yourself as the next Head of Advice at ICES Secretariat, make sure you get your application in soon!
The deadline to apply for this position is Sunday 17 August 2025!
🔗 Apply here www.ices.dk/about-ICES/J...

NHS England » NHS to fast-track patients with head and neck cancer into cancer vaccine trial NHS England » NHS to fast-track patients with head and neck cancer into cancer vaccine trial

Wow - really interesting trial for treating people with advanced head and neck cancer casued by #HPVcancer (like my own) - 'A cancer vaccine using mRNA technology will help the immune system recognise and kill cancer cells containing HPV proteins' #cansky 🧪

bit.ly/4m2LghH

A great few days in #LymeRegis collecting sediment samples to assess the impact and risk posed by an eroding coastal landfill - 80+ samples retrieved and excited to see what they tell us once we get them in the lab! #RACC

@profkatespencer.bsky.social @sgrieve.bsky.social
@qmul.bsky.social