Roisin O'Riordan

SSS Soil System Sciences

The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Roisin O'Riordan for the poster/PICO entitled:

The Soil-City Interface: Soil organic matter and ecosystem services (O'Riordan, R.; Davies, J.; Stevens, C.; Quinton, J.; Boyko, C.)

Click here to download the poster/PICO file.

Roisin O’Riordan is a PhD student at Lancaster Environment Centre and the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business, Lancaster University, UK. Roisin’s background is in landscape architecture which informs her research on the role of urban soil in providing ecosystem services, with a focus on urban soil carbon.
The awarded poster presents findings from a field survey of urban soils across Manchester, UK, from parks and from under sealed surfaces where the soil has been covered by roads and pavements. Initial results show that soil sealing tends to reduce soil carbon; however, the anthropogenic addition of materials to soils as part of road construction can provide a large store of carbon. This highlights the importance of considering urban soils when compiling carbon budgets and inventories.

Publication resulting from the award

O'Riordan, R., Davies, J., Stevens, C., and Quinton, J. N.: The effects of sealing on urban soil carbon and nutrients, SOIL, 7, 661–675, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-661-2021, 2021.