Professor Susan Wilson
Professor in Environmental Pollution - Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law; School of Environmental and Rural Science
Biography
Susan is a Professor in Environmental Pollution. She leads the UNE Pollution Science Research Group in the School of Environmental and Rural Science. She has a PhD in Environmental Chemistry (Lancaster University, UK), a Masters in Environmental Technology (Imperial College, UK) and a Bachelor in Chemistry (Honours) (Bristol University, UK). Her research answers questions on the cycling, processing, fate and toxicity of contaminants in terrestrial systems to provide solutions for management, rehabilitation and remediation. Her group works on legacy and emerging pollutants, including the metalloids arsenic and antimony related to mine site contamination, PFAS and microplastics.
Qualifications
- BSc Hons Chemistry (Bristol University, UK),
- MSc Environmental Technology (Imperial College, London),
- PhD Environmental Chemistry (Lancaster University, UK)
Teaching Areas
My teaching includes environmental chemistry, pollutants in the environment, soil pollution and research skills:
- ECOL301 Applied Research Skills in Environmental and Rural Science
- EM312 Environmental Impact Assessment
- RSNR301 Pollution Management
- SOIL222 Soil Science (Pollution Module)
- SOIL310/510 Soils, Pollution and the Environment
- SOIL431 Soils in Practice
- SCI400 Honours in Science
Research Interests
- Fate, behaviour and availability of pollutants in soil systems
- PFAS, microplastics, metals and legacy pollutants
- Soil-pollutant interactions and climate change influences e.g fires, drought, floods
- Food chain contaminant transfers
- Ecotoxicity and impacts of contaminants
- Biogeochemistry of arsenic and antimony
- Exposure and risk assessment
- Remediation and rehabilitation of polluted systems including phytoremediation and bioremediation
- Environmental analysis and monitoring
Research Supervision Experience
I supervise honours, masters and PhD students in various areas of pollution science.
Publications
See Google Scholar profile below
Selected recent Journal Publications:
Carolyn A Sonter, Matthew Tighe, Romina Rader, Susan C Wilson (2024). Can Bees Detect Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)? Enviro. Toxicol and Chem., 43(7), 1638-1647. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5881
Jamie. N. Caplette, Susan C. Wilson, Adrien Mestrot, (2024). Antimony release and volatilization from organic-rich and iron-rich submerged soils, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 470, 134230, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134230.
Wilson S.C. (2023). Raging fires, wild storms: Is the rate of global climate change outpacing our progress in the assessment and management of chemical stressors to effectively protect humans and the environment for extreme climate conditions? Integr Environ Assess Manag., 19(6):1409-1410. doi: 10.1002/ieam.4838.
Nicola A. Forster, Susan C. Wilson, Matthew K. Tighe. (2023). Weathering alters the profile of trace metals and organic compounds in leachates and bioavailability extracts from microplastics of trail running shoe. Environmental Pollution, 336, 122431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122431
Gunadasa, S.G., Tighe, M.K. & Wilson, S.C. (2022). Arsenic and cadmium leaching in co-contaminated agronomic soil and the influence of high rainfall and amendments. Environmental Pollution, 316, 120591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120591
Esmaeili, A., Knox, O., Leech, C., Hasenhor, S., Juhasz, A & Wilson, S.C. (2022) Modelling polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon bioavailability in historically contaminated soils with six in vitro chemical extractions and three earthworm ecotypes. Science of the Total Environment, 845, 157265. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157265
Doherty, S., Rueegsegger, I., Tighe, M.K., Milan, L.A. & Wilson S.C. (2022) Antimony and arsenic particle size distribution in a mining contaminated freshwater river: Implications for sediment quality assessment and quantifying dispersion. Environmental Pollution, 305, 119204, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119204
Recent book chapters and reports:
Wilson, Susan C., Egodawatta, Lakmini P. and Tandy, Susan. "Chapter 7 Antimony soil–plant transfer". Antimony, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, (2021) pp. 147-172. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110668711-007
Global Assessment of Soil Pollution. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. 2021. FAO and UNEP. (2021). Global Assessment of Soil Pollution: Report. Rome. ISBN: 978-92-5-134469-9. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb4894en. Chapter 2 Main Contaminants and their fate in the soil environment. Lead authors: Bernd M. Bussian, Natalia Rodríguez Eugenio (GSP/FAO), Susan C. Wilson (University of New England, Australia)
Memberships
Australian Society of Soil Science
Royal Australian Chemical Institute
Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry - NSW Representative
External Profiles
Further Information
- Deputy Head of School
- Senior Editor Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
- Deputy ERS Standing Committee on Equity, Inclusion and Diversity
