Sarah Duddigan

Sarah is currently involved in a range of projects covering soil carbon sequestration, natural farming, habitat restoration and remediation after mining activities.

The collaborative project on understanding Zero Budget Natural Farming, in India,  is examining the effects of different soil management techniques in the agricultural sector, and the effects of these techniques on soil biophysical properties. As part of this project, Sarah and the team has liaised with over 100 farmers spread over 800 km.

Sarah has also worked on projects in the Department of Sustainable Land Management, on a research project investigating the efficacy of agricultural reversion of heathlands in Southern England, examining the impacts of artificially imposed pH gradients on soil biogeochemistry, floral and faunal communities. Along with a project investigating sustainable technologies to minimise the environmental hazards on mine tailings.

Sarah was awarded her PhD by the Department of Geography and Environmental Science on 'The fate of carbon from soil amendments in horticultural systems' in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society. This included research into the mechanisms governing carbon stabilisation within the soil, and how organic amendments impact on soil chemical, physical and biological properties.

Sarah also founded and coordinated the Tea Bag Index-UK citizen science project, which worked with members of the public, in the UK, measuring decomposition rates in their gardens. Sarah is now a part of the global Tea Bag Index team.