tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529Tue, 17 Feb 2026 08:59:12 +0000ScienceMediaWeb-SEOEverything to do with wetlands. University lecturer. Researcher in wetland science. Former journalist.http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)Blogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-5090291848133930227Thu, 19 Jan 2017 12:52:00 +00002016-06-09T10:47:54.267+01:00ScienceI try to keep my Twitter feed regularly updated so please follow me there and get in-touch. Tweets by @christiandunn !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2016/01/tweets-by-christiandunn-functiondsidvar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-8968835472529524861Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:34:00 +00002016-01-21T21:39:53.991+00:00ScienceI've started writing for the BBC Wildlife Magazine as one of their 'experts' answering questions. So far I've written about the following: How wet are wetlands? Could mangroves grow in the UK? How have wolves changed the flow of rivers?  I've got some more questions to come and it's a real pleasure to write for the magazine that helped inspire my interest in natural history. http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2016/01/writing-for-bbc-wildlife-magazine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-6096764683704039851Wed, 20 Jan 2016 21:15:00 +00002016-01-21T21:39:42.731+00:00ScienceAt the end of last year I was invited by BBC Wales' Science Cafe to review some of the big science news stories of 2015.  The programme's presenter, Adam Walton, spoke to myself Dr Stephanie Wilson, also from Bangor University, and Dr Chris North from Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy. For more details on the show visit the page on the BBC Science Cafe website. I spoke about the http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2016/01/bbc-science-cafe-review-of-year-2015.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-2185102456527186054Mon, 16 Nov 2015 21:24:00 +00002016-01-21T21:43:05.171+00:00ScienceI recently appeared on a programme for BBC Radio Wales' Science Cafe series, in which I talked about the Migneint blanket bog in Snowdonia. It was a really fun show to be involved with as I got to walk around the site with the presenter, Adam Walton, and explain about the importance of such ecosystems. The idea for the Migneint programme came after a conversation between myself and the producerhttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2015/11/bbc-wales-visit-migneint-blanket-bog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-4106561193349107149Thu, 09 Jul 2015 07:21:00 +00002016-01-21T21:43:15.424+00:00ScienceAquaponics is the process of growing plants using water from a stock of fish - crucially the plants act as filter, cleaning the water so it can be returned to the fish. This creates a self-sustaining cycle with the dirty water from the fish tank feeding the plants and the returned  clean water keeping the fish healthy. In terms of growing plants, aquaponics is basically just a standard http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2015/07/make-affordable-desktop-aquaponic-system.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-3122120670168144625Mon, 30 Mar 2015 19:54:00 +00002015-03-30T20:54:31.243+01:00ScienceI recently visited the Countess of Chester Country Park and was delighted to see areas of wetlands featuring so heavily there. The park is just next to Chester's main hospital and was officially opened last year. Whilst my eldest daughter was receiving some treatment the other week I went for a walk and found that the designers of the park have included plenty of wetland areas. I think this ishttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2015/03/wetland-conservation-at-countess-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-5125390965246272604Wed, 07 Jan 2015 13:01:00 +00002015-01-07T13:07:07.075+00:00ScienceOne of the latest research projects I've set-up at Bangor University combines two of my interests - wetlands (obviously!) and agriculture - by investigating the use of Constructed Farm Wetlands (CFWs) The work is being supported by some great folk at Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and aims to ensure farmers and policy makers in Wales are better informed about the use and application of CFWs. As http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2015/01/constructed-farm-wetlands-cfw-research.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-1588431595820336996Tue, 06 Jan 2015 09:31:00 +00002015-01-06T09:31:29.364+00:00ScienceWetland scientists really do have the most exciting conversations -  for example a recent discussion in our labs involved whether SuDS should be renamed. SuDS, stand for Sustainable Drainage Systems, or Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, if you prefer the uppercase 'U' acronym. The term encompasses a whole range of practices and developments to drain surface water in a more controlled http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2015/01/should-suds-be-renamed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-8097862801292573483Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:24:00 +00002014-10-06T13:28:30.590+01:00Science The news that the government plans to remove the first colony of wild beavers seen in England for 500 years has caused huge controversy. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is believed to be worried about the impacts and consequences of beavers living on the River Otter in Devon. It is reported that Defra plans to capture and rehome the beavers in a zoo or http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2014/07/parachuting-beavers-into-uk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-692333465384808087Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:11:00 +00002014-03-24T21:11:45.506+00:00Science The other week I gave an interview for BBC Radio Wales` Science Cafe programme. As part of their episode on the Bangor University Science Festival I was asked to talk about some of our latest research on wetlands. Here`s the link to the interview which was on the BBC Science Cafe on March 11, 2014: BBC Science Cafe. I enjoy doing publicity work like this; it allows me to use some of thehttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2014/03/bbc-science-cafe-radio-interview.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-5611681247550624596Mon, 17 Feb 2014 08:19:00 +00002014-02-17T08:33:33.294+00:00ScienceFollowing the fire on the peatland at Borth, near Aberystwyth, on Friday (February 14), I was asked to give an interview on BBC Radio Wales - Good Evening Wales. It was a good opportunity to try and get across the importance of peatlands in Wales and to praise the work of Bangor University, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the other organisations involved in their study and managementhttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2014/02/bbc-wales-interview-borth-bog-fire.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-1009606634228783403Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:24:00 +00002014-02-12T08:27:44.906+00:00ScienceThe flooding in Somerset and the south of England  has highlighted the need for a determined overhaul of the UK's management of flood waters. Clearly the priority in many of the worst hit areas is to look at the maintenance of existing watercourses and how the catchment area is used further upstream. But to effectively limit the effects of flooding a much wider view has to be taken with http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2014/02/can-bioswales-stop-flooding-in-uk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-1195315778329664716Tue, 04 Feb 2014 07:00:00 +00002014-02-04T08:03:26.817+00:00ScienceI've just had a paper published on conducting enzyme assays on wetland soils published in the journal Wetlands. The paper is entitled: "Methodologies for Extracellular Enzyme Assays from Wetland Soils". My thanks go to my co-authors: Tim Jones, Astrid Girard and Prof Chris Freeman. It was a great team effort! If you're interested you can get a copy by following the link and I've included http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2014/02/new-paper-on-wetland-enzyme-assays.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-8317800210536119389Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:46:00 +00002014-02-03T22:12:18.380+00:00ScienceHere's a press release I wrote for Bangor University about World Wetlands Day. A renowned north Wales' Professor has highlighted the importance of Wales’ wetlands as part of World Wetlands Day. Professor Chris Freeman from Bangor University has thrown his support behind the event aimed and at raising the awareness of wetlands across the globe. The award-winning academic, who runs the UK's onlyhttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2014/02/world-wetlands-day-2014.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-303530679603564360Wed, 23 Oct 2013 22:05:00 +00002014-02-03T22:28:43.701+00:00Science A few days after handing-in my PhD on peatland biogeochemistry I was offered a lectureship at Bangor University and asked to be course organiser for the new Wetland Science and Conservation Masters degree. It was a fantastic opportunity and the result of several months of hard work by both myself and my supervisor, Prof Chris Freeman, in putting together the course structure. We were http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2013/10/wetland-science-conservation-msc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-6327744648176576537Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:40:00 +00002014-02-03T22:29:20.980+00:00ScienceMost of the biologists, ecologists and zoologists I know dread the moment they have to sit down with their data and start their statistical analysis. Even those that understand the importance of statistics often don’t really know which test to perform or what the output actually means. And I have to admit, I’m one of them! Or at least, I used to be. My understanding of statistics has got http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2013/01/statistics-for-biologists.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-1483714573070402626Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:35:00 +00002012-10-15T09:30:52.511+01:00ScienceThe use of peat by the horticultural industry has long been a controversial issue in the UK, and now the argument is becoming more heated than a well-maintained compost heap. The British Government have announced plans to ban peat from all amateur gardening products by 2020 and a similar phase out for the professional horticulture sector by 2030. Recently the popular celebrity organic gardenerhttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2012/10/should-uk-be-peat-free.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-8291069697662600067Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:16:00 +00002012-09-05T08:16:31.610+01:00Science I recently wrote an article for Wetland Science and Practise, which is published by the Society of Wetland Scientists. In it I argue for the need to consider peatland-geoengineering as way of cooling our climate. This means looking at ways of harnessing the unique biogeochemistry of peatlands to capture and store more carbon – which is what my PhD is all about. We believe this is not only http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-need-to-consider-peatland.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-883361353609650688Wed, 23 May 2012 09:09:00 +00002012-05-23T13:22:13.616+01:00Science A study has shown seagrass beds can store twice as much carbon as forests but that's still only a fraction found in peatlands. Researches say the soil underneath endangered seagrass meadows - which cover less than one percent of the world's seas - contain 10 percent of all the carbon buried annually in our oceans. This equates to around twice the amount of carbon found in the soils of the http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2012/05/seagrass-stores-more-carbon-than.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-4862193423733177947Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:06:00 +00002012-02-03T08:06:57.719+00:00ScienceYesterday (February 2) was World Wetlands Day and I put together a piece about our research team's work for the Bangor University website. World Wetlands Day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar - known as the Ramsar Convention. The aim of of the event is to help raise public awareness about the importance and value of http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2012/02/world-wetlands-day-at-bangor-university.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-4759641859739465359Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +00002012-01-10T21:17:12.630+00:00Web-SEOHere is a really simple way to search through someone's Twitter feed / stream with Google, to find a specific word or phrase. To search a Twitter stream or feed simply type " site:twitter.com/USERNAME " into the normal Google search box - without the quotation marks and replacing 'username' with the Twitter address of the person or organisation your're interested in. After this type the word orhttp://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2012/01/search-twitter-feed-with-google.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-2848594048156275067Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:03:00 +00002011-11-09T21:03:55.280+00:00ScienceThe 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) starts on 28 November, 2011, and takes place in Durban, South Africa. There's already plenty of discussion about the meeting on Twitter and this is likely to increase a lot during the event itself. To make the conference easier to follow on Twitter people will be using certain http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2011/11/official-hashtag-for-cop-17.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-7006544827576938393Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:31:00 +00002011-11-08T21:35:24.024+00:00ScienceAustralia is to impose a fixed price on carbon emissions for the biggest polluters in the country. The top 500 emitters will be charged $23.78 per tonne of carbon equivalent they produce from July 2012 and a full emissions trading scheme will be in place from July 2015. Such a move means Australia will have the most comprehensive carbon price scheme outside Europe. Indeed, http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2011/11/australia-creates-carbon-tax.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-1991493855909860754Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:19:00 +00002011-10-23T20:19:40.777+01:00ScienceSir David Attenborough breaks his silence on climate change in his new BBC natural history series, Frozen Planet. According to an interview in the Guardian, the 85-year-old talks about the threats posed by man-made global warming in the last episode of the series. Sir David Attenborough says he has been reluctant to talk about climate change before because he admits he felt un-qualified, not http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2011/10/david-attenborough-on-climate-change.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7764326448318287529.post-2715054740292975210Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:58:00 +00002011-08-09T07:59:30.204+01:00ScienceThis is a press release from Bangor University about my research on peatlands in the Kyoto Protocol and future climate change legislation. Scientists find gold in British bogs The price tag of Britain’s bogs could be set to soar, making them just as valuable as prime farmland. A review by scientists at Bangor University has highlighted the growing importance of peatlands in carbon trading http://christiandunn.blogspot.com/2011/08/scientists-find-gold-in-british-bogs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Christian Dunn)1