- 200 years
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- About us
https://webcdn.mmu.ac.uk/profiles/img/profile-images/1Robert-Sparkes-0153-crop-145x145-580a28963468c.png
My teaching focuses on two main aspects of Environmental Science - using chemical tools to understand the world around us, and understanding both the causes and effects of climate change.
I make use of the excellent laboratory facilities to teach advanced techniques that will be relevant for careers in research or industry, backed up by a solid understanding of the theory behind it all.
Some of the courses I teach on are:
- Natural Resources and Pollution
- Earth Systems
- Global Environmental Change and Ecosystems
- Environmental Risk Management
I am an environmental scientist and organic geochemist interested in understanding how carbon moves around our planet, from the atmosphere to the biosphere to the oceans.
My research has included work on samples from around the world, including Siberia and Taiwan, as well as working on ocean sediments and meteorites.
I use a range of tools to carry out this research, including Raman Spectroscopy, Gas/Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry.
2012-2015: Post-Doctoral Resarcher, University of Manchester
2008-2012: PhD, Materials Science, University of Cambridge
2004-2008: MSci, Natural Sciences (Geology), University of Cambridge
2004-2008: BA, Natural Sciences (Geology), University of Cambridge
Themes:
Carbon cycling in extreme environments
Permafrost environments, and their response to climate change
Techniques:
Organic geochemistry (GC-MS, LC-MS, pyrolysis)
Stable isotope geochemistry
Raman Spectroscopy
A. Pytlak, R. Sparkes, W. Goraj, A. Szafranek-Nakonieczna, A. Banach, et al. S. Akhmetkaliyeva, M. Słowakiewicz. (2021). Methanotroph-derived bacteriohopanepolyol signatures in sediments covering Miocene brown coal deposits. International Journal of Coal Geology. 242, pp.103759-103759.
RB. Sparkes, N. Hovius, A. Galy, JT. Liu (2020). Survival of graphitized petrogenic organic carbon through multiple erosional cycles. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 531, pp.115992-115992.
J. Bischoff, RB. Sparkes, AD. Selver, RGM. Spencer, Ö. Gustafsson, et al. IP. Semiletov, OV. Dudarev, D. Wagner, E. Rivkina, BE. Van Dongen, HM. Talbot. (2016). Source, transport and fate of soil organic matter inferred from microbial biomarker lipids on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. Biogeosciences. 13(17), pp.4899-4914.
KS. Irvin, JH. Potgieter, C. Liauw, R. Sparkes, S. Potgieter-Vermaak (2022). The quantification of di-octyl terephthalate and calcium carbonate in polyvinyl chloride using Fourier transform-infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 139(24), pp.52372-52372.
A. Pytlak, R. Sparkes, W. Goraj, A. Szafranek-Nakonieczna, A. Banach, et al. S. Akhmetkaliyeva, M. Słowakiewicz. (2021). Methanotroph-derived bacteriohopanepolyol signatures in sediments covering Miocene brown coal deposits. International Journal of Coal Geology. 242, pp.103759-103759.
RB. Sparkes, N. Hovius, A. Galy, JT. Liu (2020). Survival of graphitized petrogenic organic carbon through multiple erosional cycles. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 531, pp.115992-115992.
RB. Sparkes, M. Maher, J. Blewett, AO. Selver, O. Gustafsson, et al. IP. Semiletov, BE. Van Dongen. (2018). Carbonaceous material export from Siberian permafrost tracked across the Arctic Shelf using Raman spectroscopy. Cryosphere. 12(10), pp.3293-3309.
J. Bischoff, RB. Sparkes, AD. Selver, RGM. Spencer, Ö. Gustafsson, et al. IP. Semiletov, OV. Dudarev, D. Wagner, E. Rivkina, BE. Van Dongen, HM. Talbot. (2016). Source, transport and fate of soil organic matter inferred from microbial biomarker lipids on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. Biogeosciences. 13(17), pp.4899-4914.
MR. Lee, P. Lindgren, AJ. King, RC. Greenwood, IA. Franchi, et al. R. Sparkes. (2016). Elephant Moraine 96029, a very mildly aqueously altered and heated CM carbonaceous chondrite: Implications for the drivers of parent body processing. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 187, pp.237-259.
J. Bischoff, RB. Sparkes, A. Doğrul Selver, RGM. Spencer, Ö. Gustafsson, et al. IP. Semiletov, OV. Dudarev, D. Wagner, E. Rivkina, BE. van Dongen, HM. Talbot. (2016). Source, transport and fate of soil organic matter inferred from microbial biomarker lipids on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. Biogeosciences Discussions. pp.1-27.
N. Hovius, A. Galy, RG. Hilton, R. Sparkes, J. Smith, et al. K. Shuh-Ji, C. Hongey, L. In-Tian, A. Joshua West. (2011). Erosion-driven drawdown of atmospheric carbon dioxide: The organic pathway. Applied Geochemistry. 26(SUPPL.), pp.S285-S287.
K. Hiscock, R. Sparkes, A. Hodgson (2011). Evaluation of future climate change impacts on European groundwater resources. In: Climate Change Effects on Groundwater Resources: A Global Synthesis of Findings and Recommendations. CRC Press, pp.351-365.
E. Burns, G. Wolff, R. Jeffreys, R. Sparkes, O. Guustafsson, et al. B. Wild, I. Semiletov, B. Van Dongen. (2019). Fate of terrigenous nitrogen in East Siberian Arctic shelf sediments. In: 29th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, IMOG 2019.
E. Burns, G. Wolff, R. Jeffreys, R. Sparkes, O. Guustafsson, et al. B. Wild, I. Semiletov, B. Van Dongen. (2019). Fate of terrigenous nitrogen in East Siberian Arctic shelf sediments. In: 29th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, IMOG 2019.
P. Lindgren, AM. Andreassen, MR. Lee, R. Sparkes, RC. Greenwood, et al. IA. Franchi. (2016). EXPLORING THERMAL SIGNATURES IN THE EXPERIMENTALLY HEATED CM CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITE ALLAN HILLS 83100. In: METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE. Berlin, GERMANY, 7/8/2016. pp.A415-A415.
S. Potgieter-Vermaak, N. Maledi, JH. Potgieter, R. Sparkes, N. Wagner (2016). Organic and inorganic characterisation of different coals by single particle analysis. In: 33rd Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference: Coal - Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, PCC 2016.
P. Lindgren, R. Sparkes, E. Quirico, MR. Lee (2015). EXPLORING THERMAL PROCESSING OF THE MILDLY AQUEOUSLY ALTERED CM2 EET 96029 USING SULPHIDE MINERALOGY AND CARBON STRUCTURE. In: METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE. Berkeley, CA, 27/7/2015.
Manuscript reviews for: Biogeosciences, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Organic Geochemistry, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Fellow of Higher Education Academy
Member of Mineralogical Society, British Organic Geochemical Society