Professor Graeme Paton

Professor Graeme Paton
Professor Graeme Paton
Professor Graeme Paton

Chair in Biological Sciences, Head of School of Biological Sciences

About
Email Address
g.i.paton@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 273834
Office Address
  • Room 2.22 Cruickshank Building
  • Room 2.12 Zoology Building

 

 

School/Department
School of Biological Sciences

External Memberships

Research

Research Overview

I study the relationship between pollutant speciation and toxicity. This considers the fate and transformation of environmental pollutants. This is done through the use of analytical chemical tools to study organism responses to pollutants. I am also enthused by the application and comparison of ecotoxicity assays to various environmental sample. I also use general research skills in soil microbiology and biochemistry. Specific areas of interest are:

  • Fate of inorganic/ organic pollutants in the environment
  • Development of bioassays to assess environmental toxicity
  • Chemical and biological techniques for environmental restoration
  • Soil genesis and classification and linkage to soil biology

Here is my lab

Research Areas

Biological and Environmental Sciences

Supervising

Research Specialisms

  • Environmental Biotechnology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Soil Science
  • Applied Environmental Sciences

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Current Research

Current Research Group

The current research group has several strands. Mostly the focus is on process level soil microbiology as a response to perturbations- mainly pollution. Biosensors are widely used to quantify and better understand these mpacts and to relate to the aspects of bioavailability. To an extent these enable sustainable solutions to be developed and bespoke risk assessment to be measured.

If you are interested in joining the group then have a think about the work that the current group and recently completed members have contributed.

Dr. Lenka Mbadugha complements the research team with her expertise in pollution monitoring, biosensor development and soil carbon dynamics. 

Rosie Boyko has completed her PhD studying the link between soil pH management and sward quality with reference to Scotland and food security. Thnayan Alonaizi is studying soil-based enzymes to devise recolonisation techniques in impacted soils. This bioaugmentation work is a new twist of remediation work with hydrocarbons that we have done in the past. He is also transplanting functional biomes back into soils. Onome Omovie-Stephen is applying techniques for carbon fractionation to contrastingly managed soils to try and develop techniques to better sequester soil carbon. The great challenge is to understand carbon partitioning and links to function and availability. 

Sapar Dossanov successfully defended his thesis: integrated approaches of risk and hazard assessment in current and historic metal mines. This work was further enhanced by Sandra Arroyo Sanchez who has upskilled the use of SEM and applied the risk assessment/ human exposure/ model approaches to Mexico. She aslo  successfully defended her PhD is Q1 of 2024- congratulations.

Alexander Kani is studying bioleaching of metal wastes as a process for elemental recovery in a sustainable manner. The focus is on critical elements and we have widened the scope from mine wastes to other matrices and are developing resin based systems for capture.  

Christoph Gade studies elemental cycling of mercury with a focus on marine sources and fate but extends this to wider geochemical concepts. The driver here is to truth test models that  have been established making use of specific analytical approaches. He has also established some effective and innovative ecotoxicological testing. 

Rita Moussa is a Hydro-Nation student and worked on anaerobic systems for the sustainable geeration of methane and hopefully hydrogen. She has submitted and successfully defended her PhD. 

 

Former Members of the Research Group

Dr. Aftab Majeed studied urban ecology with respect to planning challenges from a quantitative basis. He has recently relocated to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

Dr. Barry Nourice studied the fragile status of soils in the Seychelles.  

Dr. Victor Igwe focussed on microbial processes in the production of bioethanols. This made use both of empirical and modelling approaches. 

Dr. Amira Alzadjali developed new elemental specific biosensors to update the current suite used by the group in environmental diagnostics.

Dr. Abubakar Yuguda devised methods to apply mycorrhizal enhanced maize plants in the remediation of soils impacted with effluents from the tannery industry.

Dr. Chisom Agunwoke developed biosensors for soil and sediment remediation.

Dr. Mouza Al Mansouri studied sustainable water storage in Abu Dhabi where she works as the Director in Spatial Data Analysis at the Environment Agency.

Dr. Saad Dehlawi completed his research using chemical additives to enhance mobility and complexation of pollutants as a strategic technique for land and water remediation.

Dr. Chidinma Anunike used CaSx with a specific focus on the consideration of hexavalent chromium transformation. 

Dr. Hedda Weitz, who developed a range of bacterial biosensors and the only effective fungal biolouminescence-based assay, oversees the smooth running of the microbial laboratory. Jamie Buckingham oversees the challenges of soils, environmental samples and chemical analysis within the group. 

Here is a tour of the facilities

 

Collaborations

Prof. Kirk Semple, Lancaster University

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

Course Co-Coordinator 

  • Land Use and the Changing Environment
Publications

Page 3 of 3 Results 101 to 130 of 130

  • The potential for anaerobic mineralisation of hydrocarbon constituents of oily drill cuttings from the North Sea seabed

    Artz, R., Semple, K. T., Killham, K. S., Prosser, J. I., Paton, G. I.
    Journal of Environmental Monitoring, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 553-557
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Toxicity of the bacterial luciferase substrate, n-decyl aldehyde, to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Caenorhabditis elegans

    Hollis, R. P., Lagido, C., Pettitt, J., Porter, A. J. R., Killham, K. S., Paton, G. I., Glover, L. A.
    FEBS Letters, vol. 506, no. 2, pp. 140-142
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Development and application of bioluminescent Caenorhabditis elegans as multicellular eukaryotic biosensors

    Lagido, C., Pettitt, J., Porter, A. J. R., Paton, G. I., Glover, L. A.
    FEBS Letters, vol. 493, no. 1, pp. 36-39
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • A novel toxicity fingerprinting method for pollutant identification with lux-marked biosensors

    Turner, N. L., Horsburgh, A. M., Paton, G. I., Killham, K. S., Meharg, A. A., Primrose, S., Strachan, N. J. C.
    Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 20, pp. 2456-2461
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Comparison of response of six different luminescent bacterial bioassays to bioremediation of five constraining soils

    Bundy, J. G., Campbell, C. D., Paton, G. I.
    Journal of Environmental Monitoring, vol. 3, pp. 404-410
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Development of QSARs to investigate the bacterial toxicity and biotransformation potential of aromatic heterocyclic compounds

    Bundy, J. G., Morriss, A., Durham, D. G., Campbell, D. G., Paton, G. I.
    Chemosphere, vol. 42, pp. 885-892
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Lighting the way for bioremediation

    Paton, G. I.
    Chemistry & Industry, vol. 3, pp. 77-79
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Recommendations for testing toxicity to microbes in soil

    McGrath, S. P., Checkai, R. T., Scott-Fordsmand, J. J., Glazebrook, P. W., Paton, G. I., Visser, S.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings
  • Soil solution extraction techniques for microbial ecotoxicity testing: a comparative evaluation

    Tiensing, T., Preston, S., Strachan, N. J. C., Paton, G. I.
    Journal of Environmental Monitoring, vol. 3, pp. 91-96
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Use of bacterial biosensors to interpret the toxicity and mixture toxicity of herbicides in freshwater

    Strachan, G. L., Maciel, H., Porter, A. J. R., Paton, G. I., Preston, S.
    Water research, vol. 35, no. 14, pp. 3490-3495
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • What do microbial biosensors tell us about the behavior of MTBE?

    Maciel, H., Paton, G. I.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings
  • Biosensing the acute toxicity of metal interactions: Are they additive, synergistic, or antagonistic?

    Preston, S., Coad, N., Townend, J., Killham, K., Paton, G. I.
    Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 19, pp. 775-780
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Comparison of methods to investigate microbial populations in soils under different agricultural management

    Lawlor, K., Knight, B. P., Barbosa-Jefferson, V. L., Lane, P. W., Lilley, A. K., Paton, G. I., McGrath, S. P., O'Flaherty, S. M., Hirsch, P. R.
    FEMS Microbiology Ecology, vol. 33, pp. 129-137
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Copper speciation and impacts on bacterial biosensors in the pore water of copper-contaminated soils

    Vulkan, R., Zhao, F. J., Barbosa-Jefferson, V., Preston, S., Paton, G. I., Tipping, E., McGrath, S. P.
    Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 34, pp. 5115-5121
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Development of robust, environmental, immunoassay formats for the quantification of pesticides in soil

    Strachan, G., Whyte, J. A., Molloy, P. M., Paton, G. I., Porter, A. J. R.
    Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 34, pp. 1603-1608
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Investigating the specificity of regulators of degradation of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon-based compounds using structure-activity relationships

    Bundy, J. G., Durham, D. G., Paton, G. I., Campbell, C. D.
    Biodegradation, vol. 11, pp. 37-47
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Response of a Rhizobium-based luminescence biosensor to Zn and Cu in soil solutions from sewage sludge treated soils

    Chaudri, A. M., Lawlor, K., Preston, S., Paton, G. I., Killham, K., McGrath, S. P.
    Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 32, pp. 383-388
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Assessing metal bioavailability in soils using luminescence-based microbial biosensors

    Preston, S., Rattray, E. S., Hall, J. M., Chaudri, A. M., McGrath, S. P., Killham, K., Paton, G. I.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings
  • Assessment of acute PAH toxicity using prokaryote biosensors.

    Reid, B. J., MacLeod, C. J. A., Semple, K. T., Weitz, H. J., Paton, G. I.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings
  • Assessment of the toxicity of metals in soils amended with sewage sludge using a chemical speciation technique and a lux-based biosensor

    McGrath, S. P., Knight, B., Killham, K., Preston, S., Paton, G. I.
    Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 18, pp. 659-663
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Determination of acute Zn toxicity in pore water from soils previously treated with sewage sludge using bioluminescence assays

    Chaudri, A. M., Knight, B. P., Barbosa-Jefferson, V. L., Preston, S., Paton, G. I., Killham, K., Coad, N., Nicholson, F. A., Chambers, B. J., McGrath, S. P.
    Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 33, pp. 1880-1885
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Lux-biosensor assessment of pH effects on microbial sorption and toxicity of chlorophenols

    Sinclair, G. M., Paton, G. I., Meharg, A. A., Killham, K.
    FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 174, pp. 273-278
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Metal remediation of soil via phosphate formation: Bone meal treatments

    Hodson, M. E., Valsami-Jones, E., Dubbin, W. E., Collins, M., Cotter-Howells, J., Paton, G., Kemp, A. J., Warren, A.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings
  • Feasibility of using prokaryote biosensors to assess acute toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Reid, B., Semple, K., Macleod, C., Weitz, H., Paton, G.
    FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 169, no. 2, pp. 227-233
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Application of bioluminescence-based microbial biosensors to the ecotoxicity assessment of organotins

    Bundy, J. G., Wardell, J. L., Campbell, C. D., Killham, K., Paton, G. I.
    Letters in Applied Microbiology, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 353-358
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Development of an acute and chronic ecotoxicity assay using lux-marked Rhizobium legunninosarum biovar trifolii

    Paton, G. I., Palmer, G., Burton, M., Rattray, E. A., McGrath, S. P., Glover, L. A., Killham, K.
    Letters in Applied Microbiology, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 296-300
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Comparative assessment of the toxicity of a papermill effluent by respirometry and a luminescence-based bacterial assay

    Brown, J. S., Rattray, E. A., Paton, G. I., Reid, G., Caffoor, I., Killham, K.
    Chemosphere, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 1553-1561
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Soil ecotoxicity assessment using lux‐modified constructs of Pseudomonas fluorescens

    Paton, G. L., Campbell, C. D., Glover, L. A., Killham, K.
    Soil Use and Management, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 153-154
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Assessment of bioavailability of heavy metals using lux modified constructs of Pseudomonas fluorescens

    Paton, G. I., Campbell, C. D., Glover, L. A., Killham, K.
    Letters in Applied Microbiology, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 52-56
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Use of luminescence-marked bacteria to assess copper bioavailability in malt whisky distillery effluent

    Paton, G. I., Palmer, G., Kindness, A., Campbell, C., Glover, L. A., Killham, K.
    Chemosphere, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 3217-3224
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
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