Dr Sarah Purnell

Sarah Purnell is a Senior Research Fellow in Environmental Microbiology with expertise in emerging contaminants, water reuse, catchment management and predictive modelling. Sarah is a member of the Centre for Aquatic Environment and the Environment and Public Health Research Group (EPHREG) within the School of Environment and Technology.

In recent years, Sarah has been working closely with industry partners, to conduct research that identifies the causes of water quality deterioration and informs catchment management initiatives that address water quality problems and safeguard our water resources.

How I like to teach

My teaching is driven by the latest published research and my own research experience. By integrating research into sessions, students have the chance to explore contemporary problems affecting society and discover how their study and potential future research can tackle these. In the majority of my modules there is a strong element of applied science taught through a range of different practical sessions. In these sessions students have access to the state-of-the-art facilities of the Centre for Aquatic Environments, including specialist microbial and water quality laboratories, as well as a large array of field equipment.

My research interests

My research focuses on providing low cost tools to deliver solutions and inform management of emerging contaminants, which have the potential to negatively impact public health and aquatic environments. These tools include microbial source tracking, quantitative microbial risk assessment, and predictive modelling approaches. I am passionate about pursuing research that can have direct and positive impact on catchment management strategies and protection of water resources, also with the aim of helping to create resilience for future predicted climate change.

Research activity

Current research projects:

Southern Water project – How can low-cost catchment modelling approaches (e.g. SWAT) help to predict where and when water quality issues are most likely to arise?
South East Water project – Assessing the human infectious disease health risks associated with the use of recycled wastewater to augment potable water supplies through augmentation of surface waters
University of Brighton Rising Stars project - Hydrological modelling of metaldehyde – Towards a transferable protocol for mapping and predicting emerging aquatic contaminants

Previous research projects:

South East Water project - Elucidating the contribution of human faecal pollution to eutrophication processes in drinking water reservoirs using microbial source tracking tools
Thames Water project - Managing the health risks associated with recycled wastewater
RiskManche - Protecting of the aquatic environment in our maritime region
AquaManche - Aquatic management of catchments for health and environment

Research Centres and Groups

Social media

ResearchGate

Centre for Aquatic Environments Twitter account

Contact me

Dr Sarah Purnell
Senior Research Fellow

Environment and Technology
Moulsecoomb
Brighton
BN2 4GJ

Telephone: +441273641344

Email: S.E.Purnell@brighton.ac.uk

Biography

I first became interested in water quality issues when I was completing my undergraduate degree (BSc Environmental Hazards) at the University of Brighton. During my final year dissertation I was able to get involved in an ongoing research project investigating the sources of faecal contamination in Pagham Harbour, using microbial source tracking methods. This inspired me to begin a PhD at the University of Brighton under the supervision of Dr James Ebdon, and Professor Huw Taylor, developing an alternative microbial source tracking method using bacteriophages that infect Enterococcus bacterial host strains.

During my time at the University studying for my PhD, my interest in catchment management grew and I started a part-time research officer position on the Aquamanche project, which was a cross-border initiative designed to deliver practical tools to improve prediction, mitigation and management of river and coastal waters in the France (Channel) - England region. This project really highlighted for me importance of predictive modelling of water quality contaminants and how this information could be used effectively to manage catchments for the protection of human health and the environment. In addition, I was able to spend some time training in molecular methods in the prestigious IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour L'exploitation de la Mer) laboratories in Brest, France. On the completion of this project, i then had the opportunity to join the research team again as a full time researcher on a further project titled Riskmanche, which aimed to develop practical environmental risk assessment and management tools for the control of water-related disease in the France (Channel) England cross-border region. This project allowed me to develop my skills in predictive modelling, mapping and catchment management

After completing my PhD in 2012, I was offered a position at the University of Brighton as a Research Fellow, and I was promoted to Senior Research Fellow in 2016. My work now strongly focuses on emerging contaminants, water reuse, catchment management and predictive modelling. I am fortunate that work amongst a talented team of researchers within the Environment and Public Health Research Group, as a part of the Centre for Aquatic Environments and I am looking forward to continuing to develop and apply research that has positive impact for human health and the environment.

Research output

Number of items: 7.

Purnell, Sarah, Ebdon, James, Wilkins, Helen and Taylor, Huw (2018) Human-specific phages infecting Enterococcus host strain MW47: Are they reliable microbial source tracking markers? Journal of Applied Microbiology. ISSN 1364-5072

Olalemi, Adewale, Purnell, Sarah, Caplin, Jonathan, Ebdon, James and Taylor, Huw (2016) The application of phage-based faecal pollution markers to predict the concentration of adenoviruses in mussels (Mytilus edulis) and their overlying waters Journal of Applied Microbiology, 121 (4). pp. 1152-1162. ISSN 1364-5072

Purnell, Sarah, Ebdon, James, Buck, Austen, Tupper, Martyn and Taylor, Huw (2016) Removal of phages and viral pathogens in a full-scale MBR: Implications for wastewater reuse and potable water Water Research, 100. pp. 20-27. ISSN 0043-1354

Purnell, Sarah, Ebdon, James, Buck, Austen, Tupper, Martyn and Taylor, Huw (2015) Bacteriophage removal in a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) – Implications for wastewater reuse Water Research, 73. pp. 109-117. ISSN 0043-1354

Purnell, Sarah (2012) Bacteriophage of Enterococcus species for microbial source tracking Doctoral thesis, University of Brighton.

Purnell, Sarah, Ebdon, James and Taylor, Huw (2011) Bacteriophage lysis of enterococcus host strains: a tool for microbial source tracking? Environmental Science and Technology, 45 (24). pp. 10699-10750. ISSN 0013-936X

Ebdon, James, Purnell, Sarah and Taylor, Huw (2008) Bacteriophages as tools for assessing the quality of surface waters impacted by point and non-point sources of faecal pollution in southern England Water and Environmental Management Series (WEMS) . IWA Publishing, London, UK.

This list was generated on Thu Apr 19 23:23:30 2018 BST.