Biography

Research Fellow (2012- onwards)

Development of a new Microbiological test device

Aquatest Project, Research assistant (2009 - 2012)

Microbiological validation of the Aquatest device in the UK and overseas

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded the University of Bristol $13 million to develop Aquatest. The University of Surrey, together with a number of other institutions and organizations, has been subcontracted by Bristol into the international, interdisciplinary research consortium it is leading to drive Aquatest forward.

Aquatest will be a small, single-use device for testing microbial water quality. It will be used in the field, without electricity or skilled technicians.

The University of Surrey’s role in the project is primarily to validate and field test the Aquatest device.  The validation will be carried out in several stages: 

• First the device will be tested in the laboratory to ensure that it is robust and that it produces reliable results. 
• The device will then be field tested in the UK before progressing to field trials in India and South Africa. 
• A second part of our work is to develop and test a decontamination procedure for the device so that it can be rendered safe after use.

Robens Centre, Laboratory Technician (2004 - 2009)

I worked in the UKAS accredited water microbiology laboratory, analysing water samples for indicator bacteria including E. coli by membrane filtration and Colilert/QuantitrayTM.

Publications