Hilary Kennedy

Biography

I am a professor in Chemical Oceanography. I completed a B.Sc in biological chemistry at the University of Essex, a MSc in Forensic Science at Strathclyde University and a PhD at Leeds University. My PhD thesis was entitled “Diagenesis in deep sea sediments with special reference to iodine”. After a postdoctoral position at the Bullard Laboratoies, University of Cambridge, I took up my current position here at Bangor.

Research Interest

My research interests are focussed on the use of stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur) in tracing biogeochemical process and in validating the use of tracers for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. In the seagrass meadows of Asia and Europe stable isotopes are being applied to trace both the source of organic matter to the sediments and to the local food web; to validate their use as indicators of changes in nutrient loading to the coastal environment and to determine the impact of anoxic conditions on the health of seagrass meadows. I am also interested in the importance of seagrass meadows as coastal carbon sinks.