Hi, my name is Callum and I am originally from the small town of Ulverston, in south Cumbria. I have been in Manchester for the past 4 years, studying for a Masters in Chemistry with Industrial Experience. I spent my placement year working at Sellafield and the National Nuclear Laboratory up in Cumbria. Whilst there I was involved in non-active research, investigating the settling behaviour of hydrotalcite colloidal suspensions. For my masters project I worked within the Kaltsoyannis Group, employing various computational techniques to investigate the formation of metal complexes within the f group elements, with a specific focus on studying the level of covalency and the electronic configuration of these complexes.

My PhD is focused around the use of in situ phosphate mineralisation to remediate Sr⁹⁰ contaminated groundwater at Sellafield. I will be looking at various approaches, utilising both biotic and abiotic systems. With the biotic approaches utilising the microbial degradation of phosphate containing compounds to facilitate mineralisation, while the abiotic approach relies upon the hydrolysis of long-chain polyphosphate compounds.

Outside of the lab I spend most of my free time rock climbing in the summer months and ice/mixed climbing in the Scottish mountains in winter.

I don’t really have a favourite element, I think their all alright. My favourite mineral however, is Calcite as I have spent a lot of time hanging off limestone over the past few years.