Dr. Kirsty Harrington
Research Associate
School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, Institute of Mechanical, Process & Energy Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, UK
Biography
Kirsty is an aqueous geochemist with a background in Earth Sciences. She is interested in both the natural and perturbed carbon cycle, and in developing and testing strategies to reduce atmospheric CO2, supporting efforts to meet global climate targets.
Kirsty gained her bachelor’s degree in Geology at Birkbeck College, London in 2017, and completed her DPhil in Environmental Research from the University of Oxford in December 2023. Her PhD project used field riverine sampling, laboratory experiments and geochemical modelling to investigate the impact of enhanced silicate weathering (EW) on UK river geochemistry. The first published research paper from this work explores the role that secondary riverine carbonate precipitation has in lowering the overall CO2 consumed by enhanced weathering. She has also investigated natural weathering, and in her recent work, quantified the annual flux of atmospheric carbon dioxide removed due to natural silicate and carbonate rock dissolution in the UK.
Kirsty is currently a Research Associate at the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions, specifically contributing to the Greenhouse Gas Removal via Enhanced Rock Weathering Demonstrator (ERW-GGR) Project. She will be employing lab & field-based research to investigate the potential of artificial waste materials from mining and industry to capture atmospheric CO2.
Roles & Responsibilities
Research interests
Kristy’s main research areas are Enhanced silicate weathering, carbon dioxide removal, carbon cycle, river geochemistry.