Project Staff - Heather Kerrigan

Heather Kerrigan
Postgraduate Research Student
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology
Queen's University Belfast
BT7 1NN

Tel: 02882 831730
E-mail: hkerrigan01@qub.ac.uk

Current research activities

My main research interests involve investigating the spatial variability of soil and sediment content, primarily for forensic, but also for environmental purposes. The focus of my PhD research is to test the representativeness and reliability of sampling at larger scales (1km square, for example- the joint GSNI/ DTI TELLUS project) in visually homogenous locations. The high-resolution spatial variability of soil and sediment will be investigated, with analyses involving both destructive and non-destructive techniques; the latter being particularly associated with forensic applications.

The strategy of large-scale (1km) sampling has been questioned both by forensic scientists and geomorphologists, with the suspicion being that variation within the 1km grid could be significant. Evidence for such small-scale spatial variation will therefore have a major impact upon sampling strategies for forensic investigations, as well as for geochemical exploration.