Dr Robert Sparkes is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. He was previously a Post-Doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester, working to research the effect of thawing permafrost on the Arctic Ocean carbon cycle with Bart van Dongen. Prior to this he completed his undergraduate, masters and PhD studies at the Univeristy of Cambridge, working with Niels Hovius, Albert Galy and Vasant Kumar.
He has experience with a wide range of analytical chemistry techinques including:
- Liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry
- Gas chromatography – mass spectrometry
- Isotope ratio mass spectrometry
- Raman spectroscopy
- Elemental analysis
- Inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy
- Computational modelling and analysis.
Within the Coastal Ecosystems Research Group, Robert uses his expertise to measure how much carbon is present in saltmarshes, to determine the fraction of organic and inorganic carbon, and to characterise the source of the organic matter.