Recent investment of over £1.8 million in analytical equipment and specialist laboratory facilities has established the 'Centre for Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments (CATE)' at Queen Mary, University of London. This is an exciting new interdisciplinary collaboration between the School of Geography and the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. CATE builds on existing research strengths in areas of environmental research such as hydrology, hydrochemistry, environmental geochemistry, freshwater and marine ecology, terrestrial ecology and conservation.

The first and second rounds of the Science Research Infrastructure Fund have allowed us to invest in state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation capable of analysis of sediments, soils and water samples for a wide range of organic and inorganic species. Examples of recent research that has benefited from the new facilities includes analysis of organic and trace metal contaminants in fluvial and estuarine sediments, and quantifying the origin and composition of bed and suspended sediments in lowland rivers.

Investment from the second round of SRIF has refurbished a suite of specialist research facilities comprising dedicated rooms for solid and aqueous phase sample preparation, and organic and inorganic trace analysis.