Menu Close
Professor of Soil and Environmental Science, Bangor University

Davey Jones holds a Professorial Chair in Soil and Environmental Science at Bangor University and a Professorial Chair position at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow held jointly between Cornell University and the US Department of Agriculture in the USA (with Prof Leon Kochian). He also carried out postdoctoral work under Prof Simon Gilroy at Penn State University (now Madison, WI). A major focus of his research is on understanding below-ground processes with specific focus on nutrients and human pathogen behavior in water-food-soil-plant-microbial systems. His research portfolio is quite broad - reflecting his interests from natural sciences through to social sciences (i.e. science linked to changing human behaviour).

Current applications of his work include (1) the implementation of strategies for controlling SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and other viral pathogens in urban, agricultural, freshwater and marine ecosystems, (2) promoting carbon sequestration in agricultural systems and understanding the factors regulating carbon cycling and greenhouse gas emissions, (3) developing ways to improve nutrient use efficiency in cropping systems with specific focus on nitrogen and phosphorus, (4) devising strategies for the effective reuse of wastes for land restoration and remediation (heavy metals and organic pollutants), (5) soil microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning, (6) modelling nutrients dynamics in the plant-soil-microbial and freshwater ecosystems, (7) understanding the barriers to technology adoption by farmers, (8) the impact of flooding, drought and ozone on ecosystem functioning (including tipping points) and potential strategies to enhance ecosystem resilience, and (9) influence of microplastics in soil and freshwater environments.

He has published more than 610 scientific journal articles (ISI H-index = 89; >35,00 citations) and has advised government on both their waste and climate change policies. COVID-19, public health, agriculture, waste and climate change policies. His research is mainly funded via UKRI (NERC, EPSRC, BBSRC), Welsh Government, DHSC, UKHSA, Public Health Wales, Food Standards Agency, DEFRA and the European Union. He was a member of the SAGE COVID-19 sub-committee 'Transmission of Covid-19 in the Wider Environment Group (TWEG)He also collaborates with industry to deliver novel solutions to environmental problems and improve product sustainability.

Experience

  • –present
    Professor of Soil and Environmental Science, Bangor University

Education

  • 1993 
    Oxford University, PhD