Isabel Navarro Law
PhD Student
Profile
Biography
Isabel is a PhD researcher interested in the impacts of agricultural practices on biodiversity. Her work investigates the impact of herbicide exposure on aquatic plants and will use the novel E-flow mesocosms based at FERA.
Before commencing the PhD, Isabel undertook her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of York, before moving into industry. Working as a field trials agronomist allowed her to work directly with pesticides, testing out the efficacy of different pesticides, fertilisers and growing techniques for maximum crop yield. It was within this role that she realised the harms associated with pesticide use and the lack of sustainability in current agricultural techniques. In 2021 she returned to academia to complete an MSc in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Sheffield, where her dissertation focused on PM2.5 pollution from domestic waste fires.
Research
Overview
Isabel's PhD is funded by the ECORISC CDT and the stakeholders involved include the Chemical Regulation Division, who will provide support regarding policies and risk assessments, and FERA, who will provide access to the mesocosms. The overarching aim is to understand how herbicide exposure affects aquatic plants in real-world scenarios, and be able to apply that knowledge to risk assessment protocols.
