January Hare Moss Field Trip
On the 21st and 22nd of January, two PhD students (Niamh Gurrin and Dougal Clumpas) of the group and this year's MChem project student (Mattia Poli) were out on a field trip to Hare Moss and Auchencorth Moss, two peatbogs just 30 minutes south of Edinburgh.
The aims were to collect stream water samples for Niamh's project and peat pore water samples for Mattia's thesis, alongside taking some field measurements of the pore water such as pH, temperature, and conductivity.
Niamh's work focuses on analysing the organic chemistry of streams flowing through peatland areas.
Similarly, Mattia's project is all about understanding how the organic compounds present in the water within the peat (pore water) change between different season.
Both projects involve the development and use of advanced analytical techniques such as NMR and FT-ICR MS, both part of the School of Chemistry analytical suite.
We were blessed with some good weather on the first day which really underscored the beauty of our Scottish landscape. The second day welcomed us with a frosty morning, with the countryside looking as ethereal and magical as ever.
Special thanks to the UKCEH for granting us access to these precious sites, and to Dougal for driving us all there and helping us out in the field, especially if that means offering some hot lentil soup!
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