Welcome to new Associate Directors

We are delighted to announce that Professor Laura Carter and Dr Paul Hutchings are joining the water@leeds executive team as Associate Directors for Research and Impact respectively. 

Laura will lead on Mission 1: Research to undertake transformational fundamental and applied research that enables us to be at the heart of the global water research and innovation community.

Laura Carter is Professor of Environmental Chemistry, School of Geography . Her research focuses on understanding the fate and uptake of emerging contaminants in the natural environment, with particular focus on soil-plant systems.  She currently holds a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship which funds the project: Contaminants of emerging concern in agricultural systems: a risk to soil and plant health?’ About her new appointment, Laura says: 

I am very passionate about working across disciplines to deliver applied research that benefits society and believe water@leeds is a great example of how this can be achieved through coordinated support and creation of an environment where knowledge exchange and collaboration is encouraged.

and added 'she is delighted to join the water@leeds team as an Associate Director to help continue this work'.

Paul will lead on Mission 3: Impact, to generate research outcomes which have major positive impacts on society and the environment, reduce inequalities and shape a better future for humankind.  

Paul Hutchings is Associate Professor in Water, Sanitation & Health, School of Civil Engineering.  His research focuses on two overlapping areas – the first is on institutional and policy-level processes within the water, sanitation and related sectors; the second area is applied research and evaluation of water, sanitation and environmental health interventions and programmes. He is the programme leader for the Water, Sanitation and Health Engineering MSc, and sits on the WaterWISER CDT management board.  

About his new appointment Paul said:  'I am really excited to join the water@Leeds team as an Associate Director, as it offers the opportunity to champion and support the remarkable research impact that colleagues across the network consistently deliver...

With so much inspiring work already taking place on local, national, and global scales, I am passionate about recognising and communicating these strong foundations, while strategizing together on how we can further advance impactful water research to address the myriad water-related challenges the world faces.’

water@leeds director Prof Joseph Holden welcomed Laura and Paul: 

'We are delighted to welcome Laura and Paul to the water@leeds team. They bring a wealth of interdisciplinary experience in the water field, huge energy and great ideas. The whole team is really looking forward to working with them to advance the water@leeds missions.'