Overview
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Officer in Environmental Science, supervised by Prof Davey Jones and Prof Dave Chadwick. My research interests include soil biogeochemistry, extreme weather events (e.g., heat stress, wildfires), grassland and livestock productivity, and greenhouse gas emissions. I am open to collaborations and establishing new projects.
My PhD research was based on the exploring the agronomic and environmental benefits of grazing multispecies 'herbal' leys on lowland sheep production.
Supervisors:
Prof Davey Jones & Prof Dave Chadwick
Additional Contact Information
Position: Postdoctoral Research Officer in Environmental Science.
Office:
Environment Centre Wales (2nd Floor) (Ecosystems and Environment Group)
School of Environment and Natural Sciences
Bangor University
Deiniol Road
Bangor
Gwynedd
LL57 2UW
Email: e.cooledge@bangor.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyCooledge
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emily_Cooledge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilycharlottecooledge/
Qualifications
- PhD: Exploring the agronomic and environmental effects of herbal leys on lowland sheep production
2019–2024 - BSc: BSc (Hons) Geography
2015–2018
Research Interests
Research Interests:
- Soil quality.
- Soil biogeochemistry.
- Extreme weather events (e.g., heat stress).
- Wildfires.
- Herb- and legume-rich multispecies 'herbal' leys.
- Livestock GHG emissions.
- Livestock productivity and health.
- Sustainable agricultural intensification.
Current Research:
I have recently completed my PhD and am currently establishing new projects on soil biogeochemical cycling for my post-doctoral role. Our current focus is exploring how stress events (e.g., extreme temperature, wildfire, salt stress) and bioamendments (e.g., biosolid dervived biochar) affects soil biogeochemistry and microbial activity in a wide range of global soils.
I was previously (April 2019-2023) working as a Research Support Technician on the BBSRC-SARIC funded project Restoring soil quality through reintegration of sheep and leys in arable rotations led by the PI Prof Jonathan Leake at Sheffield University.
This formed the basis of my PhD project, which aims to investigate livestock greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, soil quality and livestock productivity from lambs grazing multispecies 'herbal' leys in comparison to conventional grass-clover leys. Multispecies leys often contain herbs and legumes, such as chicory (Cichorium intybus), lucerne (Medicago sativa) and ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), with high concentrations of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). These PSMs may reduce parasite burden in grazing livestock, bind to proteins in the rumen, alter the rumen microbiome, reduce N excretion and subsequently reduce livestock GHG emissions.
In July 2020, we established a 2-ha split-field experiment at Bangor University's Henfaes Research Centre, North Wales, investigating the agronomic and environmental benefits of a herbal ley vs. a conventional grass-clover ley. So far we have investigated the impact of sward type on soil structure (e.g., soil porosity using X-ray CT, aggregate stability using wet-seiving), sward quality (e.g., macro- and micronutrient content), greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., from urine-patch N2O emissions), changes in lamb excreta composition (e.g. urine nitrogen content), lamb productivity (e.g. liveweight gain) and lamb health (e.g. gastrointestinal parasite burden, blood urea content).
Previous Research:
I have previously worked with Prof Daniel Murphy at the University of Western Australia on the Soils Quality project, funded by the GRDC (Grains Research and Development Corporation) on an Australian national soil quality project. Using radioisotopes (14C), we investigated microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) of 970 agricultural soils taken from across Western Australia to determine the relationship between soil pH, cations (e.g. Al3+), and CUE.
BSc dissertation:
Title: Upland-N2O emissions: Investigating spatial differences in urine-patch N2O emissions.
Achieved the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGy - now School of Natural Sciences) award for 'Best Undergraduate Project' for the 2018 cohort.
For my undergraduate thesis, I produced an incubation study based on the NERC funded Uplands-N2O project, led by PI Prof Dave Chadwick. I investigated urine-patch N2O emissions from artificial sheep urine applied to acid grassland “island” and peat cores taken from the uplands of North Wales to generate a 41-day IPCC upland specific emission factor.
Publications
2024
- PublishedHerbal leys have no effect on soil porosity, earthworm abundance, and microbial community composition compared to a grass-clover ley in a sheep grazed grassland after 2-years
Cooledge, E., Sturrock, C., Atkinson, B., Mooney, S., Brailsford, F., Murphy, D., Leake, J., Chadwick, D. & Jones, D. L., 1 May 2024, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 365, 108928.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedHerbal leys increase forage macro- and micronutrient content, spring lamb nutrition, liveweight gain, and reduce gastrointestinal parasites compared to a grass-clover ley
Cooledge, E., Kendall, N., Leake, J., Chadwick, D. & Jones, D. L., 15 Jun 2024, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 367, 108991.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedNeedles in haystacks: monitoring the potential escape of bioaerosolised antibacterial resistance genes from wastewater treatment plants with air and phyllosphere sampling
George, P., Hillary, L., Leclerc, S., Cooledge, E., Lemieux, J., Duchaine, C. & Jones, D. L., 1 Aug 2024, In: Canadian Journal of Microbiology. 70, 8, p. 348-357 10 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedSoil pH and phosphorus availability regulate sulphur cycling in an 82-year-old fertilised grassland
Wang, Q., Bauke, S., Döring, T., Yin, J., Cooledge, E., Jones, D. L., Chadwick, D., Tietema, A. & Bol, R., 1 Jul 2024, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 109436.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2023
- PublishedGreenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation priorities for UK policy targets
Buckingham, S., Topp, C. F. E., Smith, P., Eory, V., Chadwick, D., Baxter, C., Cloy, J. M., Connolly, S., Cooledge, E., Cowan, N. J., Drewer, J., Duffy, C., Fox, N. J., Jebari, A., Jenkins, B., Krol, D. J., Marsden, K., McAuliffe, G. A., Morrison, S. J., O'Flaherty, V., Ramsey, R., Richards, K. G., Roehe, R., Smith, J., Smith, K., Takahashi, T., Thorman, R. E., Williams, J., Wiltshire, J. & Rees, R. M., 1 Jun 2023, In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. 10, 2, p. 268-280 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2022
- PublishedAGRONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF REINTRODUCING HERB- AND LEGUME-RICH MULTISPECIES LEYS INTO ARABLE ROTATIONS: A REVIEW
Cooledge, E. C., Chadwick, D. R., Smith, L. M. J., Leake, J. R. & Jones, D. L., Jun 2022, In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. 9, 2, p. 245-271
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
2021
- PublishedAddition of base cations increases microbial carbon use efficiency and biomass in acidic soils
Horn, E. L., Cooledge, E., Jones, D. L., Hoyle, F. C., Brailsford, F. L. & Murphy, D. V., Oct 2021, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 161, 108392.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedReintegration Of Crop-Livestock Systems In Europe : An Overview
Schut, A. G. T., Cooledge, E., Moraine, M., van de Ven, G. W. J., Jones, D. L. & Chadwick, D., Mar 2021, In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. 8, 1, p. 111-129 18 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2019
- PublishedpH and exchangeable aluminum are major regulators of microbial energy flow and carbon use efficiency in soil microbial communities
Jones, D. L., Cooledge, E., Hoyle, F., Griffiths, R. & Murphy, D., Nov 2019, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 138, 107584.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Activities
2020
- Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (Journal)
Peer reviewer
Mar 2020 →
Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
2018
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry (Journal)
Peer reviewer for Soil Biology and Biochemistry.
Oct 2018 →
Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)