Dr Nicholle Bell MRSC
Winner: 2024 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Early Career Prize
University of Edinburgh
For innovations in high-resolution NMR spectroscopy and mass-spectrometry methods applied to the understanding of global carbon embedded in complex environmental matrices.
Celebrate Dr Nicholle Bell
Healthy peatlands act as vital carbon stores and sinks and are able to store more carbon than all of the Earth’s forests combined. However, the majority of the world’s peatlands are damaged, resulting in the loss of carbon. Damaged peatlands are prone to wildfires and cannot act as flood barriers or valuable water filters. In order to restore and protect peatlands, we need to understand how they work.
On a molecular level, peat is one of the most complex mixtures known, and its composition is largely uncharacterised to date. To meet this challenge, Dr Bell and her team develop and utilise the most powerful analytical tools of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. These methods enable the team to unravel the composition of peat, identify markers of good health, inform restoration efforts and, ultimately, help us protect these precious ecosystems.
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