Dr Michael Muir
- Lecturer (School of Social & Environmental Sustainability)
telephone:
01387702042
email:
Michael.Muir@glasgow.ac.uk
Biography
After growing up in rural Dumfriesshire I moved to Glasgow and completed my undergraduate degree in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Glasgow in 2013. I went on to study my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, investigating the interactions between natural organic matter and anthropogenic radionuclides in soils and sediments.
Now back at the University of Glasgow, and back on home turf living just outside Dumfries, my role involves managing the Environmental Teaching lab, undertaking analysis of various environmental samples, overseeing undergraduate research projects, teaching practical lab skills and supporting teaching on the Environmental Science and Sustainability degree program.
Research interests
My previous research involved investigating the interaction of natural organic matter with uranium and radiocarbon from natural and anthropogenic sources. As part of this research I used a broad range of analytical techiniques to characterise natural organic matter, such as 1H-NMR, FTIR, UV/Vis, radiocarbon dating and mass spectrometry techniques as well as inorganic analysis of heavy metals using ICP-OES, ICP-MS and XAS and radionuclides by gamma spectrometry.
Since starting work at the University of Glasgow I have been working on increasing the analytical capabilities of the environmental teaching lab. It is now possible to carry out a range of environmental analyses in the lab on samples such as soil, water and plant material with recent additions being heavy metal analysis by anodic stripping voltammetry and CO2 flux for water BOD and soil incubations.