PhD Studentship - Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Waterways and the Impact on the Survival and Breeding Success of Hirundines

This is a full-time, 3.5 year funded PhD opportunity open to home students only.

This opportunity provides an annual stipend of the research council minimum rate (set by UKRI) of £19,237 for 2024/25.

Project contact: Dr. Sue Anne Zollinger

Project advert

British waterways are in a critical state, from sewage dumping and overflows to runoff of anthropogenic chemicals from roadways, industrial discharge and agricultural land.

Water pollution can have serious consequences for wildlife, degrading aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity across many trophic levels. Many polluted aquatic habitats, including sewage and wastewater treatment plants, are known to be profitable food sources for insectivorous songbirds. Swallows and martins are reliant on these foraging sites as they often are sources of high-value prey, even as insect populations are on the decline.

This project, led by Manchester Metropolitan University in partnership with Songbird Survival and Imperial College aims to determine the extent to which endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) bioaccumulate up the food chain and impact songbird survival and fitness, focusing on sand martins (Riparia riparia) as a model system.

The project will establish the risks of EDCs in waterways, invertebrates and songbirds by a combination of field sampling, nest monitoring, and environmental chemistry assays using world leading analytical instrumentation.

Aims and objectives

This project aims to determine:

• Which EDCs are present in human-altered waterways foraged by hirundine and other insectivorous songbird species, in and around wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)?
• Is there a credible pollution pathway for EDCs to bioaccumulate, from WWTPs to aquatic aerial invertebrates and then into hirundine and other songbird species?
• Are blood EDC levels linked to reproductive success and physiology in a model system - the sand martin?

Specific requirements of the project

The project will involve both intensive fieldwork and laboratory work.

The successful applicant will have:

• The ability to work in a systematic manner to collect scientifically robust data.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Work in close collaboration with external advisors at the UK’s Environment Agency, to support existing policy work.
• Be required to obtain a home office personal animal experimentation (PIL/Avian) license, and a BTO ringing license for songbirds.
• The project is funded by a studentship from Songbird Survival Charity, and the successful applicant will be expected to contribute to public science education via Songbird Survival’s network and outreach events.
• Previous experience with ringing or handling birds, sampling aquatic invertebrates, as well as in analytical laboratory-based work, including a practical knowledge of chromatography and mass spectrometry would be an advantage.

How to apply

To apply please complete the online application form for a full-time PhD in Natural Sciences (or download the PGR application form).

You should also complete a PGR thesis proposal and Narrative CV) addressing the project’s aims and objectives, demonstrating how the skills you have maps to the area of research and why you see this area as being of importance and interest. 

If applying online, please upload your statement in the supporting documents section, or email the application form and statement to PGRAdmissions@mmu.ac.uk.

Expected start 1^st October 2024.

Please quote the reference: SciEng-SZ-2024-DISRUPTING-CHEMICALS

More information can be found on our website.

Advert information