Scientific Articles
This is the collection of scientific articles that I’ve been an author on, from perspectives and opinions to original research.
If you encounter a pay-wall, please get in touch.
Transfer of environmental microbes to the skin and respiratory tract of humans after urban green space exposure
We show that exposure to urban green spaces can increase skin and nasal microbial diversity and alter human microbiota composition. Our study improves our understanding of human-environmental microbial interactions and suggests that increased exposure to diverse outdoor environments may increase the microbial diversity, which could lead to positive health outcomes for non-communicable diseases.
Revegetation of urban green space rewilds soil microbiotas with implications for human health and urban design
We provide the first evidence, as far as we know, that revegetation can improve urban soil microbiota diversity toward a more natural, biodiverse state by creating more wild habitat conditions.
Naturally-diverse airborne environmental microbial exposures modulate the gut microbiome and may provide anxiolytic benefits in mice
Our results point to an intriguing new hypothesis: that biodiverse soils may represent an important supplementary source of butyrate-producing bacteria capable of resupplying the mammalian gut microbiome, with potential for gut health and mental health benefits.
Can bacterial indicators of a grassy woodland restoration inform ecosystem assessment and microbiota-mediated human health?
We found two key indicator groups emerged: ‘opportunistic taxa’ that decreased in relative abundance with restoration and more stable and specialist, ‘niche-adapted taxa’ that increased.
High-throughput eDNA monitoring of fungi to track functional recovery in ecological restoration
Our results highlight eDNA metabarcoding as a useful restoration monitoring tool that allows quantification of changes in important fungal indicator groups linked with functional recovery and, being underground, are normally omitted in restoration monitoring.
Revegetation rewilds the soil bacterial microbiome of an old field
With further development, awareness of microbial diversity in restoration has significant scope for improving the efficacy of restoration interventions.