Dr Sarah Cook

Assistant Professor of Environmental Biology

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Email:

Phone: 024 765 74017

Office: D129

SLS Clusters

Environment & Ecology

Pedagogical Research

Warwick Centres and GRPs

Warwick Environmental Systems Interdisiplinary Centre

Teaching Interests

I am an interdisciplinary environmental educator and researcher with experience spanning Biology, Geography, Environmental Science, and Engineering. My research and teaching interests revolve around addressing complex environmental challenges, including but not limited to climate change, nature-based solutions, human-ecosystem interactions, and the intricate dynamics of freshwater ecosystems, encompassing both tropical and temperate peatlands.

More recently my research has expanded to also consider the nature and impact of anthropogenic pollutants in freshwater environments including plastic and natural textile fibres. This also includes the use of Citizen Science by incorporating community focused solutions to address water challenges; translating the physical understanding of water quality into a socio-relevant context to deliver informed action.

My expertise lies in the study of biogeochemical cycling and the critical role of freshwater ecosystems in the global carbon cycle. I am particularly interested in investigating the interplay between aquatic carbon (dissolved organic matter, DOM), nutrients, and greenhouse gas emissions from inland waters, as well as the concentration, reactivity, and composition of DOM in response to anthropogenic-driven factors such as land-use change. To date, my research has taken me to diverse environments, including oil palm plantations in Borneo, urban drainage channels in Mumbai, and freshwater/marine ecosystems in Cambodia and Malaysia.

Through my research interests, I aim to advance our understanding of the complex interplay between biogeochemical cycling and environmental change, ultimately informing more effective strategies and policies for climate change mitigation, ecosystem conservation, and environmental management.

Research Interests and Other Activities

I am the founder of Warwick University's Living Lab which aims to bring together students, staff and the broader community to create and implement real-world solutions that integrate environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and academic excellence, transforming our campus into a living model of sustainability.

Each year I look to support student projects that can support the Living Lab and current areas of interest are:

Assessing river health through River Fly monitoring.
Quantifying Tree Carbon Stocks on a University Campus Using Allometric Models.

Biography

2023 - University of Warwick Assistant Professor, Life Sciences
2020 - 2023 University of Nottingham Assistant Professor, Environmental Science
2018 - 2020 University of Warwick Research Fellow, Engineering
2018 The Open University Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Earth Science
2014 - 2018 University of Leicester PhD
2013 - 2014 University of Leicester MSc in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources
2010 - 2013 University of Leicester BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography

Publications

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Clifford, Chelsea, Bieroza, Magdalena, Clarke, Stewart J., Pickard, Amy, Stratigos, Michael J., Hill, Matthew J., Raheem, Nejem, Tatariw, Corianne, Wood, Paul J., Arismendi, Ivan et al.

(2025) Lines in the landscape. Communications Earth & Environment, 6 (1). 693. doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02699-y ISSN 2662-4435.

Trusler, Megan M., Kent, Matthew S., Lomax, Barry H., Vane, Christopher H. and Cook, Sarah (2025) The use of ATR-FTIR to track the degradation of single-use polystyrene cup lids during 24 months of temperate outdoor exposure. PLoS One, 20 (8). e0330354. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0330354 ISSN 1932-6203.

Trusler, Megan M., Cook, Sarah, Lomax, Barry H. and Vane, Christopher H. (2025) Microplastic pollution in salt marsh and urban tributary sediment cores of the River Thames estuary, UK: Spatial and temporal accumulation trends. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 211 . 117360. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117360 ISSN 0025-326X.

Trusler, Megan M., Moss-Hayes, Vicky L., Cook, Sarah, Lomax, Barry H. and Vane, Christopher H. (2024) Microplastics pollution in sediments of the Thames and Medway estuaries, UK : organic matter associations and predominance of polyethylene. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 208 . 116971. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116971 ISSN 0025-326X.

Mosharaf, Md Khaled, Gomes, Rachel L., Cook, Sarah, Alam, Mohammed S. and Rasmusssen, Amanda (2024) Wastewater reuse and pharmaceutical pollution in agriculture : uptake, transport, accumulation and metabolism of pharmaceutical pollutants within plants. Chemosphere . 143055. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143055 ISSN 0045-6535.

Trusler, Megan M., Sturrock, Craig J., Vane, Christopher H., Cook, Sarah and Lomax, Barry H. (2023) X-ray computed tomography : a novel non-invasive approach for the detection of microplastics in sediments? Marine Pollution Bulletin, 194 . 115350. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115350 ISSN 0025-326X.

Thornton, Sara A., Cook, Sarah, Cole, Lydia, Hapsari, K. Anggi, Zawawi, Norliyana Zin and Page, Susan E. (2022) From ‘muddy glee’ to muddy reflections on fieldwork and writing. Area, 54 (4). pp. 525-530. doi:10.1111/area.12833 ISSN 0004-0894.

Stanton, Thomas, Chico, Guadunett, Carr, Elizabeth, Cook, Sarah, Gomes, Rachel Louise, Heard, Elizabeth, Law, Antonia, Wilson, Hazel L. and Johnson, Matthew (2022) Planet patrolling : a citizen science brand audit of anthropogenic litter in the context of national legislation and international policy. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 436 . 129118. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129118 ISSN 0304-3894.

Cook, Sarah, Abolfathi, Soroush and Gilbert, Nathalie I. (2021) Goals and approaches in the use of citizen science for exploring plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems : a review. Freshwater Science, 40 (4). pp. 567-579. doi:10.1086/717227 ISSN 2161-9549.

Peacock, M., Audet, J., Bastviken, D., Cook, Sarah, Evans, C. D., Grinham, A., Holgerson, M. A., Högbom, L., Pickard, A. E., Zieliński, P. and Futter, M. N. (2021) Small artificial waterbodies are widespread and persistent emitters of methane and carbon dioxide. Global Change Biology, 27 (20). pp. 5109-5123. doi:10.1111/gcb.15762 ISSN 1354-1013.

Savage, Jessica, Cook, Sarah and Yeboah, Godwin (2021) Tourist traps : assessing the role of tourism in sustaining life below water. In: Filho, Walter Leal and Anabela Marisa, Azul and Brandli, Luciana and Lange Salvia, Amanda and Wall, Tony, (eds.) Life Below Water. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals . Cham: Springer. ISBN 9783319710648

Abolfathi, Soroush, Cook, Sarah, Yeganeh-Bakhtiary, Abbas, Borzooei, Sina and Pearson, Jonathan M. (2020) Microplastics transport and mixing mechanisms in the nearshore region. Coastal Engineering Proceedings (36v). doi:10.9753/icce.v36v.papers.63 ISSN 2156-1028.

Cook, Sarah, Price, Oliver, King, Andrew, Finnegan, Chris, van Egmond, Roger, Schäfer, Hendrik, Pearson, Jonathan M., Abolfathi, Soroush and Bending, G. D. (2020) Bedform characteristics and biofilm community development interact to modify hyporheic exchange. Science of The Total Environment, 749 . 141397. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141397 ISSN 0048-9697.

Cook, Sarah, Chan, Hui-Ling, Abolfathi, Soroush, Bending, G. D., Schäfer, Hendrik and Pearson, Jonathan M. (2020) Data for Longitudinal dispersion of microplastics in aquatic flows using fluorometric techniques. [Dataset]

Cook, Sarah, Chan, Hui-Ling, Abolfathi, Soroush, Bending, G. D., Schäfer, Hendrik and Pearson, Jonathan M. (2020) Longitudinal dispersion of microplastics in aquatic ﬂows using ﬂuorometric techniques. Water Research, 170 . 115337. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2019.115337 ISSN 0043-1354.

Thornton, S. A., Cook, Sarah, Astiani, D., Hapsari, K. A., Varkkey, H., Cole, L. E. S., Dargie, G. C., Sjogersten, S., Zawawi, N. Z. and Page, S. E. (2019) 'Pushing the limits' : experiences of women in tropical peatland research. Marine and Freshwater Research, 71 (2). pp. 170-178. doi:10.1071/MF19132 ISSN 1323-1650.

Padfield, Rory, Hansen, Sune, Davies, Zoe G., Ehrensperger, Albrecht, Slade, Eleanor M., Evers, Stephanie, Papargyropoulou, Effie, Bessou, Cécile, Abdullah, Norhayati, Page, Susan et al.

(2019) Co-producing a research agenda for sustainable palm oil. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 2 (13). doi:10.3389/ffgc.2019.00013 ISSN 2624-893X.

Cook, Sarah, Whelan, Mick J., Evans, Chris D., Gauci, Vincent, Peacock, Mike, Garnett, Mark H., Kho, Lip Khoon, Teh, Yit Arn and Page, Susan E. (2018) Fluvial organic carbon fluxes from oil palm plantations on tropical peatland. Biogeosciences, 15 (24). pp. 7435-7450. doi:10.5194/bg-15-7435-2018 ISSN 1726-4189.

Materić, Dušan, Peacock, Mike, Kent, Matthew, Cook, Sarah, Gauci, Vincent, Röckmann, Thomas and Holzinger, Rupert (2017) Characterisation of the semi-volatile component of Dissolved Organic Matter by Thermal Desorption – Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometry. Scientific Reports, 7 (1). 15936. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16256-x ISSN 2045-2322.

Cook, Sarah, Peacock, Mike, Evans, Chris D., Page, Susan E., Whelan, Mick J., Gauci, Vincent and Kho, Lip Khoon (2017) Quantifying tropical peatland dissolved organic carbon (DOC) using UV-visible spectroscopy. Water Research, 115 . pp. 229-235. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2017.02.059 ISSN 0043-1354.

Cook, S., Peacock, M., Evans, C. D., Page, S. E., Whelan, M., Gauci, V. and Khoon, K. L. (2016) Cold storage as a method for the long-term preservation of tropical dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Mires and Peat, 18 . pp. 1-8. 25. doi:10.19189/MaP.2016.OMB.249 ISSN 1819-754X.

Research Projects Teaching/Student Supervision

I hold the role of Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies in Life Sciences and module lead for the three core modules within the MSc Global Decarbonisation STEM Grand Challenge Programme: Global Decarbonisation, Nature Based Solutions, and Food Systems.

PhD Supervision:

2021– 2024 Lead supervisor: Megan Trusler ‘Stuck in the Mud’ long-term accumulation and dispersal of microplastics across urban catchments. University of Nottingham.